Broken
by Pluto's Daughter 11
Summary: Insanity, he's not insane...but sometimes he let's it overcome him. Rage, he isn't angry all the time but he let's it control him. Broken, that's what Percy Jackson was. Because spending a hundred years in hell is enough to make anybody lose it. But in reality, in the land of the living, it's only been a year. And his betrayers are still alive.
1. Chapter 1

Broken. The definition of broken is, past participle. That's what he felt like as he sat in the nearly pitch black Tartarus, it was damp and unbelievably hot...like hell. But that's where he was wasn't he? He was slowly losing the tiny shred of dignity he fought so hard to cling onto, he wasn't going insane, oh no. But having a century to really think clearly while an enemy constantly tortures you really opens ones eyes. Before he knew it he was holding grudges like a son of Hades, hating everyone who had caused him to be down here, he wasn't innocent, he wasn't crazy, he wasn't demented. He was angry. Insufferable darkness and unimaginable pain had given him...clarity...had given him purpose. As hard as it was to comprehend, each day he was thrown back in his muggy cell he would train, taking out all of his rage on the thick walls. Beating them until his knuckles were bloody and sore, doing push ups and sit ups as he devised a plan to escape. Hope had left him years ago, no, what fueled him was determination. To Hades with hope, it had only gotten him sentenced here.

The black haired man coughed violently and blood spewed from his lips. His wrist burned from the harsh rope that rubbed roughly against them, his green eyes were dull and nearly lifeless as he looked up at his torturer. Pain wracked his body and he felt like vomiting, his shoulders were slumped and his head bent in resignation.

"Come on Jackson! I'm just warming up! What has it been a century already? I mean, your nothing but a murderer, like me! Why grandson the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Or maybe you would like to plead innocent?" The Titan sneered in feign interest, Percy remained silent.

Kronos rolled his eyes,"Oh, being quiet? Think your tough Jackson?" He snorted before whipping out a knife, without hesitation he rammed it into the man's shoulder, Percy cried out in agony once the blade broke skin. Blood flowed freely down his bare chest and over his jagged scars.

Kronos chuckled before slowly taking the blade out of his shoulder,"Are you innocent though? Killing someone doesn't seem like your kind of thing." Kronos murmured curiously, Percy ignored the excruciating pain he felt all over his body and looked up at Kronos.

His voice was but a whisper,"No I killed him alright." His tone then dropped an octave and he spoke in a fierce whisper,"But it's only because I had to, because what he did was wrong and unjust. And soon I'll kill you, I'll make you fade. I swear on the Styx that I will kill you slowly and painfully." Kronos felt a shiver run down his spine, Percy's eyes were unnerving, they were a stormy green color that resembled a fierce hurricane. His jaw was clenched and despite his broken down look his eyes held that spark of determination, that spark of hatred that made Medusa's glare look like a grumpy kitten's in comparison. His hair was the same length, it only went a little past his ears, he was still toned for his time in the underworld only marred him and had no affect on his youth.

Kronos felt slightly on edge before he put on his fearless façade,"And how would you get released? You think anyone cares for you? Even your own girlfriend thinks you are guilty! You're no vigilante! You're nothing but a pathetic hero who is always looking out for others! Well guess what? I broke you! Yes, I broke the hero of Olympus! The slayer of Kronos and a bunch of other titans! Your sixteen and you think you're invincible? Cuz your not." He hissed before grabbing Percy by his throat and hauling him to his cell, the demigod gagged before he was met with the force of a solid brick wall. He grunted before sliding to the ground, he welcomed the cold wall and floor; his body was always hot because of the physical torture and labor he had to endure everyday. He had learned to push past the pain; he had learned to fight through it because he knew he didn't deserve this.

Percy was unbound and he remained still until his grandfather stalked away, leave it to Hades to put Kronos in charge if his punishments. What he did was apparently so wrong that Kronos got to laugh it up in Tartarus when HE was the one that killed thousands of mortals and demigods. Once the footsteps faded Percy slowly climbed to his feet, had he of just been thrown in the pit he wouldn't be able to see a thing, but this was his "home" now. His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness and he rolled on his back before doing a full sit up, one. Of course he wasn't fed here, two. No one cared about what happened to an alleged traitor, three. Of course he kept the working out to a minimum with the amount of injuries he's faced today, four. Running through fire while praying to not be burned severely, five. Being a target for bow and arrows, six. Trying to dodge cactuses unsuccessfully, seven. Being sliced and diced repeatedly by Kronos scythe, eight.

He suddenly felt it, the raw fury of what's been happening to him for the past century, he jumped to his feet and slammed his fist into the prison wall to hear a loud crunch, he did it again and again and again until he couldn't feel his knuckles anymore. He wasn't going insane, he was holding on. He was holding onto whatever sliver of humanity remained in the caged demigod. He had been here long enough to know that rage powered him; rage gave him control of water and nothing else.

He was getting out of here. He couldn't help but think of how accurate Kronos was, he was broken. He couldn't trust anybody nor would he be that loyal hero he once was when he finally escapes, because it's been a hundred years, and a hundred years in hell could break anybody. He paused once he heard the drip of water, a malicious smirk adorned his face and his hand shot out, the droplets of water flew to his hands and the sweat that covered his body surged forward and covered his finger tips, he glared murderously at he at he cell door before freezing he water in the shape of a large knife. He used the remaining water to heal his shoulder, he didn't bother with his face though it burned with pain at the beating he had gotten.

He roughly grabbed the lock and jammed the sharp blade into the keyhole before giving a quick flick of his wrist. It snapped and he smirked triumphantly before slowly pushing the door open, he knew that he would be pursued on his escape of Tartarus but he didn't care for he was taking action now. He crept out and peeked around the corner, he could hear the titan's heavy breathing and excitement coursed through him as he slowly crept up to Kronos who's back was facing him. Faster then anyone could of comprehended Percy's hand flew up and grabbed Kronos face.

He smothered the titan's mouth before driving the blade in his throat and yanking it out before repeatedly stabbing Kronos. The Titan flailed about trying to brake free but each stab wounded him severely, he hadn't even had time to rip himself from Percy's grasp before the demigod gave him quick yet deadly wounds to the face, chest, and neck. He could feel himself weakening and he let out a muffled scream in agony as the ice knife continued to cut his flesh. He hadn't of planned for Percy to be so strong, Percy's cell only had a large lock on it and the Titan of time had clearly underestimated the demigod.

Percy had let his rage control him and he couldn't help but smile and laugh as he tormented his torturer. He knew there was no honor in the way he was killing Kronos but he didn't care, because he had been trapped here for years, and even though he wasn't insane he had let his anger and insanity take over him. Hope, love, and fear had done nothing but make him weak. But insanity and rage had led him to this moment. No longer was he kind, loyal Percy Jackson. Now he was ruthless, and craved nothing but justice.

He released the Titan who fell face first onto the ground,"It appears my oath HAS been fulfilled." Percy spat venomously, Kronos let out a soft groan before blowing up into golden dust and vanishing. He let out a ragged breath before looking around, had he of known he would be thrown in here for serving justice he would of stayed on Calypso's island, his biggest what if. He clutched his knife tightly, this is what he's been training for, an escape from Tartarus. Not only would he have to escape here but the underworld as well, Hades would be after him and the thought made him scowl. He ran quickly through the depths of hell, his bare feet slapped the pavement and he felt nerved at the loud hisses from monsters and evil beings trapped with him. He quickened his pace, he could feel several sharp stones plunge into his feet but he ignored it, but every step was hurting him. Every step made another sharp stone dig into his foot and he hissed, he froze once a large Minotaur stepped in his way. Percy felt rage overcome him again and didn't give the beast a chance to move before he leaped on him and stabbed him in the head, the monster roared and fell to the ground. He leaped off of the monster not bothering to watch it reform since it was already in tartarus, his knife was starting to melt, he was losing energy.

He growled and tossed it to the ground once he felt it melting, he was near the entrance when he heard a angry shouts and roars behind him. He cursed and leaped up on the wall, he began climbing out of the abyss, each stone he grabbed caused him immense pain, tartarus was trying to keep him in. He felt as though he was burning alive, a feeling he knew all to well. He held in his screams of pain and felt his muscles scream in protest as he pulled himself upwards, he wouldn't fall down with the hordes of monsters who wanted him dead, he was to strong for that.

He felt his fingers brush over the edge of the top of the abyss and he felt himself shaking. With a final tug he lifted himself up and laid on the ground, he was breathing heavily and let out a small laugh of relief before sitting up. Sweat made his jet-black hair cling to his forehead, he felt hot and sticky but he couldn't get over the fact that he had finally escaped. Ironically Kronos had somehow trained him to escape the place, being constantly burned really toughens a guy. He had fought for this, and now...he didn't know what to do. Going to Camp Halfblood would be a waste of time; Annabeth had deserted him like the rest. The thought saddened him, he pushed the beautiful blonde out of his head and tiredly stood to his feet, she should be dead by now.

"Well Percy, I must say that was awesome." The demigod whirled around to see a grinning son of Hades.

Percy stiffened,"How are you still alive?" He snarled angrily before wincing at the pain all over his body, Percy was shirtless and wore ripped and tattered jeans. His scars were horrifying to look at but Nico kept his gaze calmly on his friend's eyes.

"It's only been a year Percy."

"No, it's been a century. You should...so that means all of YOUR friends are still alive." Percy gave him an angry glare and Nico flinched at Percy's tone. Percy couldn't believe this, he'd think that his treacherous friends would be dead...which meant Annabeth was still alive. He felt even angrier and pushed away the sadness that cocooned him, he thought he had gotten lucky and all of his friends would just...leave. Again he was going to suffer Tartarus if anyone knew he had escaped.

"Yes their alive but Percy, I helped you escape. There was this spell I used-" Percy tuned him out, Nico thought he could just help him get free and he'd be fine? They'd be friends again?

Percy scowled,"I don't need you DiAngelo, you and your friends got me stuck down there in the first place. Leave me alone." He sneered before beginning to walk past Nico.

Nico grimaced before placing a hand on Percy's shoulder,"I'm so sorry Percy I-" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Percy roughly smacked his hand off his shoulder. Percy whirled around and toward over the shorter boy, his green eyes glowing with anger and betrayal.

"Don't touch me, I. Hate. You." Percy whispered fiercely and Nico flinched again as if stabbed with a knife, Percy was scaring him and his words cut him to the core. He looked down sadly at his feet, Percy just snorted as he watched guilt eat away at his old friend.

"I was down there for a century, I know there's a catch to why you allegedly saved me. Whatever the gods want tell them I don't care anymore." Percy spat before turning on his heel to walk away, anger pulsed through him and he clenched his fist so tightly that his nails drew blood, but at the moment he didn't care. Nico watched his old friend walk away with tears blurring his vision, Percy had changed down there...what had he done? First he had gone to Hecate and pleaded for something to help Percy only to have the son of Poseidon assume that he was needed again? Unfortunately...Percy was right, but this time it didn't seem like he was as loyal as he once was.

-Line Break-

To say that the sudden brightness of the sun hurt Percy's eyes would be a huge understatement, he had lived in the dark for years and the sudden brightness from exiting the underworld was burning his eyes. He gasped in pain and rubbed them roughly before trying to get his eyes to adjust, he blinked rapidly and glanced down at his skin, to his surprise it still had pigment. He wasn't tan anymore but he wasn't pale either, once his eyes finally got used to the light he glanced around in confusion and saw a sign that read, Welcome to Nevada! Shouldn't he of been in California? It was the entrance and exit to the underworld. The ground beneath him burnt his feet but it had nearly no affect on him at all for he was used to worse pain, he sighed, there was no one he could trust now. He didn't want to risk the safety of his mom and Paul but he was at a loss of what to do. He decided to do the most rational thing and walked forward, it was warm but not as warm as Tartarus had been much to his relief. He felt his stomach rumble and he groaned, he had lived without food for years but now that he was in the land of the living food was essential, as was water, his throat was unbelievably dry and he coughed slightly before continuing his trek down the road.

Percy was surprised he wasn't dead yet, hunger and dehydration had taken it's toll on him and he was exhausted. Cars whizzed past him which he ignored since none of them looked like they were about to stop for him, but who would? A weird guy with more scars and burns then a cookie with chocolate chips just randomly walking on the road shirtless, he wasn't sticking out at all. Not to mention he was in tattered jeans that hung low on his hips and no shoes. Hades, Percy wouldn't even stop for someone like that. So he kept walking and walking and walking. Black dots danced in his vision and his legs began to wobble, his breathing got shallower and he grimaced at the pain he was feeling. Dizziness overcame him and he felt his wrist burn with unimaginable pain, the curse from Kronos, Percy had thought that would of gone away once he killed the titan..but again he was wrong. He just couldn't seem to get a break, not to mention he would have to avoid all the gods so he wouldn't be thrown in the pit again.

_"I can't believe you!"_

He groaned as his head began pounding in his skull.

_"Monster!"_

He gasped in pain, he felt as though his head was splitting open, and he had experienced that before.

_"Murderer!"_

He slowly crumpled to his knees and gripped his hair as the voices continued to scream in his head, he couldn't handle it. He heard cries of terror and realized it was himself.

_"I can't believe I ever loved you!"_

Percy was on his hands and knees as tears streamed down his face. The bright sun and hot air was beating him down as were the voices screaming in his head. He wasn't insane; insanity had tried and failed to take over him. But he knew he was broken, because a strong person would actually have the will to live, because Percy had seen so much.

"I can't believe your terrible behavior Piper McLean! I'm sending you to the Wilderness school because of your numerous thefts! Do you no how bad of a reputation I'll get for this!" Tristan McLean yelled in exasperation as he clutched the wheel tightly in anger. He loved his daughter but he didn't understand the reason for her multiple thefts. Tristan and Piper had a somewhat strained relationship; ever since the actor had begun acting they became distant. He was a handsome man from the Cherokee descendent; he had a scruffy beard and sparkling brown eyes. If you paid enough attention you could see a glint of sadness in those beautiful eyes. Piper sighed as she listened to her father yell at her, he didn't seem to take a hint as to why she stole what she stole. She WANTED her father's attention, she wanted it to be like how it used to be, before her father became an actor, before he became to busy for her.

She went through the drill,"Yes. Sorry. Won't happen again." But she knew she was lying, because of her father only paid attention to her when she stole and she would continue to do so until he actually spent time with her. She ignored her father's ranting and gazed out the window of their large BMW, she saw a shirtless man lying in the side of the road; he appeared to be unconscious and Piper's eyes widened.

"Stop the car!" She screeched and the movie star came to an abrupt halt, Piper leaped out of the car. She didn't know what came over her, but she felt the urge to help him. She ran to him and recoiled in surprise when she saw his bare back, a crisscross of scars and burns adorned his skin and it looked gruesome. Sweat clung to his body and his raven colored hair covered his eyes. He looked to be around her age and despite his many scars he was pretty muscular. She slowly bent down and pushed the hair from his eyes, he was handsome but had a large scar on his cheek.

"Dad we have to help him." Piper yelled as her father ran to them.

He examined the boy with a grimace,"Yes we do, come on lets take him to the hospital."

Suddenly the boy's eyes snapped open,"Don't hurt me!"He screamed and coward away, Piper looked at him in horror, he was used to the abuse. Once the boy really looked at them he scowled and stood up straight, his posture was defensive and defiant and his hands were balled into fist. Piper's eyes widened and she scrambled to her feet.

Tristan regarded Percy with caution,"We won't hurt you, we're just going to take you to the hospital-"

Percy just shook his head sadly before relaxing,"Doctors can't do anything for me now." Because he was to broken to be repaired.

**Yes I'm starting a new series! I know I know but hey I HAD TO WRITE THIS! Comment on how I did. **


	2. Chapter 2

Percy looked at the girl closely; she looked part Cherokee like her father. She had a tomboyish look and was radiantly beautiful; she had choppy, uneven hair that was a chocolate brown. Her eyes drew him in immediately and he felt drawn to those kaleidoscope eyes, it looked as though she was trying not to be pretty but failed horribly at it.

She looked at him in worry,"What do you mean Doctors can't help you?" She asked curiously and looked as though she wanted to continue but stopped herself. Her voice was smooth and soft, a voice that could lull him to sleep..if he could ever sleep again.

He kept his calm façade but was inwardly freaked out by the situation,"I'm broken, that's what I mean. The man that did this to me made it so I'll never look or...feel normal again." His voice cracked and he averted his gaze from the two of them,"I'm Percy by the way."

Tristan pitied the boy,"Then come with us. You can temporarily stay at our house and have some food and water. Then later we can give you a ride home." Though the actor was wary of the boy he felt such sadness for him.

Percy's expression turned guarded,"How do I know I can trust you? I mean...I've been betrayed before...I've been abandoned." Percy had nearly jumped at the chance to temporarily stay with the two of them; he wanted food, water, a nice bed or sofa. Hades he'd even sleep on the floor if he had to, anywhere but the depths of tartarus, not like he could sleep there anyway. But he knew he would have to be extremely careful about who he trusted.

Piper wore a determined yet offended facial expression,"Well how do we know we can trust you! Your the strange man we found on the side of the road, how do we know you won't kill us?" She asked on the brink of hysterics, he had some nerve doubting their hospitality and it angered her.

Percy's eyes narrowed,"How do you know I won't kill you? You won't I guess, but does it honestly look like I'm in any position to harm either of you?" He asked incredulously while gesturing to his scarred body, Piper snorted, he looked lean and fit. His scars didn't cover up his toned body, Tristan shot his daughter an angry look before giving Percy a small nod.

"You have clearly been abused before, I promise I won't hurt you. Just come with us until your back on your feet. Then we'll take you to your parents." Tristan was a bit more understanding with Percy, he believed that his personal body guards could keep him and Piper safe though he doubted the boy would try anything. Percy had a look of...kindness in his deep green eyes, Tristan was a great judge of character and Percy had this heartbreaking look to him, he seemed so hurt and innocent that he just had to save Percy. The teen reminded Tristan of himself when he was a boy, that is why he showed such compassion.

Percy gave them a swift nod,"Thank you." He knew he probably should of questioned them more but his stomach was rumbling and his throat was dryer than the Sahara desert.

-Line Break-

"This is your house!" He exclaimed in surprise as he stared up at their grand mansion. It was pure white on the outside and the door was elegantly painted black, columns appeared to be holding up the sturdy roof. Piper eyed him a bit reproachfully, she hated having people she didn't know over at her house, they would try to befriend her because of her wealth and father and she hated it.

"Yeah." She muttered and looked down at her feet, Tristan beamed at the house before leisurely walking in.

Percy stood there for a while next to Piper before smiling,"It's really nice." He murmured before hesitantly walking behind Tristan, his shoulders were slumped and his back had animalistic claw marks scratched viciously down his back. They were still red and looked to have been cut extremely deep, by the stiffness in his walk it looked as though it still hurt and it probably did. Piper frowned, just what exactly had Percy been through?

Percy sat there stiffly as he eyed the food and water on the table suspiciously; he wore a long sleeve tshirt that was a bit to big for him and his same tattered jeans. He had his hands placed in his lap and looked around the room with an emotionless mask, it was a humongous kitchen, the counters were made of white marble and the tile was a beautiful black. The kitchen had a large island in the center of it, Percy looked at both Piper and her father as they began eating the spaghetti in front of them. It smelled heavenly but Percy couldn't help but be wary of his surroundings and of the food. He hesitantly picked up his glass of water before sticking his finger in it, his eyes never left Tristan as the man looked at him in shock. He ran his index finger along the bottom of the glass before retracting it from the water and tentatively touching his finger to his tongue. He concluded that it was just water, he then glanced at Piper who was frowning at him in confusion, he bent down to cautiously sniff his spaghetti and shakily grabbed his fork. Both of the McLean's were watching him but he ignored their stares and stabbed the noodles roughly with the fork.

"Thanks." He muttered before scarfing his food down hungrily, Piper's eyes widened as he tore through the spaghetti, he resembled a starving wolf and she watched him with interest. To her surprise she saw a look of...heartbreak in his deep green eyes. She didn't know how she could tell but his eyes held a look of betrayal and anger...something only heartbreak could do. He had sauce all over his lips and he paused from his eating to gulp down his cup of water. His entire body felt rejuvenated and his throat was no longer dry, he put the cup down and scooped up his plate before getting up for more.

Piper just shook her head,"So much for left overs." She mumbled dryly and Percy froze mid-scoop.

He turned to them and grinned cheekily,"Let's just say I haven't eaten in a couple of weeks." There was absolutely no mirth in his smile, it was as if he was going through the motions. He turned back to his spaghetti and loaded his plate up before sitting back down. Piper narrowed her eyes at him, he didn't appear to be starved.

Tristan akwardly cleared his throat,"Well Percy once your back on your feet I can give you a lift to your parent's house." He said kindly while dabbing the sauce off of his mouth with his napkin.

Percy instantly went rigid and he put on a helpless look,"My parents are dead." He whispered hoarsely, was he lying? Yes. But he would rather risk the lives of strangers then of his mother and Paul.

Piper's eyebrows shot up in surprise,"That's awful." Though she was a bit skeptical of the boy she couldn't help but feel bad for him. She had occasionally wallowed in self-pity when her father would be busy with work, she would wonder about her mother who she hadn't heard anything about. Her father never talked about her, Percy seemed to have worse luck then she did.

He nodded glumly,"Yeah, they died a couple months ago actually." Man he was milking it, he felt shameless in his actions when he thought of protecting his sweet mother. He couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, his scent was powerful and he would probably attract monsters...but the way he saw it, better mortals then his mom. He would leave if to many came or someone was about to get hurt. Suddenly a loud phone went off and Tristan shot out of his seat.

"I have to take this." He said quietly before exiting the room. Piper huffed in frustration and crossed her arms of her chest; of course he had to get it.

Percy noticed her anger and cocked his head to the side,"You alright?" He asked before shoveling another forkful of noodles in his mouth. It felt so good to actually eat again and his stomach no longer felt like an empty pit. He swallowed and looked into her kaleidoscope eyes questioningly, her mouth was formed into a thin line and her eyebrows were furrowed.

She didn't tear her gaze from her plate as she answered him,"Fine." She replied before scowling in her father's direction. Percy nodded, her father must of been a busy man by the way his daughter was glaring at him.

"I guess you're used to this..." He trailed off when her eyes met his; there was a lull in the conversation as Percy continued inspecting Piper. She unknowingly was sizing him up, seeing that if he was a threat if she could take him. Man was she going to lose if a fight broke out between the two of them.

Piper finally tore her gaze from him and cleared her throat,"So I'll uh, show you where you're sleeping." She muttered before standing up, Percy followed her slowly and let his eyes wander ever inch in the house warily. He felt so...unsafe. He felt as though he was losing his mind, his skin began to crawl as if someone was watching him.

Piper desperately wanted to know what had happened to the raven-haired teen but she decided not to pry, instead she led him to a plush leather couch. He grinned widely once he saw it but it soon faded once he realized that if Kronos's curse weren't gone then he wouldn't get to enjoy himself like he would have hoped.

"Thanks." He whispered before slowly sitting down on the couch. His back was screaming in protest once he leaned back on the couch, he fought a wince and kept a straight face. His wounds hadn't fully healed, not that they wouldn't...well he wasn't sure.

Piper gave him a small smile,"Don't worry about it, and if you want you can shower." His expression went from gratefulness to horror. His eyes held panic and his hands shook slightly when he slowly balled them into fist, he gritted his teeth and averted his gaze from hers.

"Thanks." He repeated forcefully as if a broken record, Piper's eyes widened at his reaction to the word shower.

Percy sighed; he knew he probably didn't smell to great, especially with the lack of soap over the years in tartarus. Instead of saying another word he stood up, his legs nearly gave out on him but he stood tall and let the somewhat nervous Piper lead him to the bathroom.

He knew he needed to do this, he was a son of Poseidon for Zeus sake and he shouldn't be afraid of water but Kronos had made him fear his own element. The water roared loudly in his ears and he numbly stared at the steaming water as it shot out of the showerhead. He of course didn't fear water itself, just being in it, tubs, pools, showers, the ocean. He put one bare leg in the shower and flinched once the warm water splashed his bare skin.

_"Come on Percy, swim! Sons of Poseidon aren't supposed to drown!" Kronos laughed mockingly as he watched Percy struggle to move out of the large lake. Unusually the boy was wrapped in plastic...he couldn't breath...he was suffocating and he couldn't see anything. He was drowning and his lungs felt like they were going to explode and he let out a muffled scream as he unsuccessfully thrashed about, trying to get out of the trap._

Percy whimpered and jolted back awake to see he was only standing in the shower drenched with water. He let out ragged breaths before grabbing a bottle of soap and lathering it all over him, it smelled like...ocean breeze. Oh the irony.

_He should of been dead. He wished he was dead. But he remained there, suffering from lack of oxygen and he soon felt claustrophobia overcome him. He tried to beg and plead to be set free but he knew that it only came out as gurgling. Suddenly he felt water creep through the plastic and get in his nose, he choked even more and struggled to try to escape but he couldn't._

He leaped out of the shower and turned it off quickly, his breathing quickened and he wrapped a towel around his shaking form. The water had helped heal him a little, but what Kronos had done to him was affecting him to much.

Percy laid down on the couch and tried to close his eyes but a flash of visions hit him like a semi-truck.

_"I had to kill him! What he did was wrong!" Percy screamed angrily in the throne room as he met everyone's fierce glare with his own._

_Zeus just glared murderously at him,"You don't have the rights to deal out justice-"_

_Percy cut him off,"With everything he did I have the right to deal out what is deserved." He snarled and Poseidon looked down at his son in disgust._

_"Quiet boy!" The sea god bellowed,"What you have done is treason!" He roared and Percy stared at Poseidon in disbelief before looking all around him to see glares all shot at him, his eyes widened and he looked at his father in disbelief._

_"Your taking Zeus's side! You know I had to do that, he would of killed everyone if I didn't." Percy protested and looked around for any support but only found hatred directed his way._

_"He-he would of changed." He heard a quivering voice and turned to see Annabeth with tears in her eyes as she continued looking at him in disdain. His heart hurt from seeing her in such a depressed, angry state, especially when such emotions were directed towards him._

_Percy just shook his head slowly,"No he wouldn't have changed Annabeth, he tried to kill you for Hades sake." Percy whispered and took a step towards her, she took one away from him and he felt a pang in his chest as he watched her flinch away from him._

_"Don't go near her!" Athena screeched and Percy fixed his pained expression on her._

_"Athena, your the goddess of justice. You know what I did was right, yes he's dead and so are the others but I had to do it." He was practically begging but the wisdom goddess merely continued giving him a heated glare._

_He began to panic and turned back to Annabeth,"Annabeth please, you know I had to do it-" Before he could finish his sentence he was smacked, his head snapped to the side and his cheek stung painfully. He felt sick and wanted to throw up, she really didn't believe him._

_He slowly faced her with a look of anguish,"Fine...I see where your loyalty is." He whispered, distraught and she sneered at him. He lacked conviction and he knew it, he really wanted to come across as this angry, tough demigod but he couldn't. Because he had cared for these people._

_"I can't believe I loved you, your a monster. I never should have taken that knife for you." She spat and he felt his world slowly begin to crumble and he fought back tears as the girl he loved continued yelling how much she hated him. His thoughts were jumbled and he felt numb, jeers and taunts were thrown his way. Nico, Clarisse, Apollo, Hermes, Poseidon, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hades, Will, Travis, Connor, Annabeth. His ears were ringing and he gripped his hair tightly as he fought himself from losing it._

_Then a voice was heard,"Leave him alone! What the Hades is wrong with all of you!" He glanced up to see Thalia, his saving Grace._

Percy jolted awake covered in sweat,"_Monster."_

The voice repeated in his mind over and over again, and what was worse was that it was Annabeth's voice. He could still picture her beautiful blonde, princess curls that he loved playing with. Or her intelligent grey eyes that seemed to always know what he was thinking. He felt bitter when he thought of the blonde and pushed her out of his mind. He wiped the sweat from his brow and stood up before walking towards the window and opening it, the breeze cooled him down and soothed him, this nightmare wasn't as bad as the usual ones and he was grateful for that. He gazed out of the window and smiled up at the stars, the ocean and the stars really took his mind off things. Though the nightmare wasn't as terrible as it could of been, he heard shuffling from behind him but he ignored it, he new Tristan body guards so he thought nothing of it until a hand grabbed his shoulder. He stiffened before he whirled around and grabbed his attacker by the throat, the person...or thing let out a yelp before he pinned it to the wall with a fist raised. His heart was racing and his adrenaline was on high as he glared murderously at his attacker.

His eyes widened once he saw who it was,"Annabeth?" His voice trembled but his hand was still latched onto her throat. He wanted to hold her, to kiss her, but she betrayed him and seeing her was hurting him. Her grey eyes pierced his and she frowned. He remembered how she kissed him before he exploded out of a volcano, the thought made tears well in his eyes and before he could stop himself he reached out and took one of her blonde curls between his fingers.

"Who the Hades is Annabeth? Percy let me go!" She hissed and he blinked, it was Piper...he was hallucinating. He stepped away from her and looked down at his feet.

"I'm sorry." He whispered and disgust and shame overwhelmed him, he missed the girl who hated him, who helped get him sentenced to tartarus.

Piper rubbed her throat before glaring fiercely at him,"Gods, I come out in the hall to use the bathroom to hear you talking in your sleep, then I see you by the window and I come to check on you...only to have you try and kill me." She grumbled and Percy went rigid. She had said Hades and gods; her eyes reminded him of...Aphrodite. She wasn't a mortal, she was a demigod.

He face palmed,"For the love of Zeus I just can't seem to get a break today." He groaned and Piper frowned at him, before she could ask what he meant a giant bat flew through the window, glass sprinkled everywhere and Percy tackled Piper to the ground.

"Percy Jackson! Zeus and Hades need you!" It screeched, Percy was laying over Piper protectively and clenched his fist in rage.

"Over my dead body Dodds." He then let rage overcome him, because that was the only thing that could.

**Well I got a lot of reviews for the first chapter, thank you all for those. 100 follows and favorites, thanks! Most I've gotten on a first chapter so I must be doing something right. Answering a couple of reviews now.**

Anaklusmos14: Ha! First review... Because I'm awesome... Hockey FTW and oh, love this story idea, even though I already told you that.

**Ignoring the hockey comment. I can NEVER review your stuff first, a bit reluctant to admit your awesomeness but I guess you are kinda awesome :). Glad I have you approval.**

Neptune's Son: You don't know how long i have waited for this PLUTO. I was to the point of writing it myself. I legit wanted a angst/comfort story with percy either having Thalia (Like anaklumos had) or one with piper pairing. Piper, since i feel she is an unsung hero in the stories and also i feel she is my number 4 girl to deserve percy. Artemis being first, Zoe second, and Thalia third and fifthly reyna. Am not an Annabeth fan.

**Yeah, I love Piper. Any who, I like Percabeth. Just don't think I could grasp their fantastic relationship quite right. PercyxPiper is actually really rare on this site and I got sad I could find hardly any when I was curious about how they would end up. So I made this. Thanks for your support!**

**Yep that's it. Comment below and let me know how I did**


	3. Chapter 3

The fury dived towards him and Percy's eyes widened, he couldn't leave Piper out in the open, but then again his body already hurt like crazy. He didn't react fast enough before the monster planted her talons in his chest, he howled before throwing out a hand and grabbing her wing. His chest hurt like crazy and Piper let out a scream as she watched the teen get clawed. The fury bit his hand and he cursed once he realized she was dragging him outside, he felt the rage build up again and he let out a roar before giving her a skull cracking punch to the head. She let out a blood-curdling screech before she flew back and landed on the hard, dirt ground. The chill of the night gave Percy goose bumps but he didn't care.

His hand shot up into the air and he felt warmth seep into him as he let his inner anger out, water flew to his hand and it solidified into a spear. It's a good thing he had taken such precautions and left a glass of water by the couch. Before he could do anything more monsters appeared, from the Minotaur to several hellhounds, he remembered the hound's familiar red eyes. Their jaws snapped viciously at him and they growled menacingly.

His eyes widened and the fury cackled,"You think I came alone? No smarter I see. Hades really needs you." She hissed the last part before a two hellhounds charged toward him. He gripped his frozen spear tightly before meeting their charge with his own; he singled one out and leaped in the air. He was right over the hound before he landed on it, his spear was shoved right in its head and it let out a whimper before disintegrating. The other one tackled him and Percy grunted before the spear flew out of his hands...he really had lost his touch. He struggled under the weight of the monster and began to panic once he saw the others slowly crowding towards him. His hands instinctively went to the hound's teeth and he began tugging its jaws apart viciously. There was a crack and it whimpered, Percy then snuck his arm around its neck and squeezed furiously. The hellhound barked and tried to move but couldn't get out of Percy grip, there was a loud snap and the hellhound yelped before exploding into gold dust. Percy was on his feet in an instant and was in a defensive position, about five hellhounds, a fury, and that blasted Minotaur was still there.

"Hey!" Someone shouted and they all turned to see Piper with a baseball bat. She smacked a hellhound on the head and it fell to the ground.

"Percy catch!" She called out and tossed him a bat as well, he grinned before turning to the Minotaur.

"Long time no see ugly." Percy smirked and the bull man roared before charging at him, Percy remembered the first time he fought the beast and quickly darted to the side. He glanced at Piper to see her beating the Hades out of a hellhound who tried running away. He chuckled and prepped himself as the beast turned around, it charged again but instead of moving Percy faced him head on, he used the wooden bat and swung it like a professional baseball player. The beast flew back and smacked on the ground making Percy's smirk broadened.

"Eh...I'll give it a double." He mused before sprinting towards the beast again and pouncing on him. He repeatedly bashed the monster in the face with the bat until it blew up into gold dust.

He heard a shriek and his eyes widened,"Piper!" He yelled and sprinted towards her direction, it should of been nearly impossible for him to see out in the dark but he had developed night vision from his years in hell. She was covered in monster dust and she was frozen as she looked at herself.

"Oh my gosh! Its blood is on me! Percy what do I do! Will I get infected? Will I die? Oh gods." She panicked and Percy burst into rambunctious laughter and she stared at him incredulously before glaring at him.

"What's so funny?" She asked crossly, gold dust was all over her face and he turned serious, he hadn't had a good laugh in such a long time. He felt warm...but it wasn't from rage...but from a foreign feeling that he hadn't had in a while. Happiness. He tentatively reached out towards her and brushed the dust from her face, while he fought to keep his eyes from meeting hers she tried watching his but gave up once she remembered that it was nearly pitch black outside. Goosebumps appeared on her arms once she felt his light fingertips brush her cheeks.

"Don't worry, this stuff isn't fatal. Thanks for helping me back there." He murmured and she felt heat rise to her cheeks.

"You saved me, from that bat lady." She pointed out and he froze before turning around slowly.

"That old hag." He snarled furiously once he realized she had gotten away. Piper looked at him in confusion before stepping away from him. She needed answers.

She gave him a look,"You are going to explain right now what that was." She demanded his eyes widened before he quickly changed the subject, because he didn't feel comfortable talking about his past. He would of course tell her about her mother and he was awfully surprised that she had been so naïve for so long. The thought made him jealous, he wished he wasn't a demigod, or the chosen one for the prophecy...it would have saved him so much trouble. It would of saved him from the trip to tartarus.

"Wait, your dad and the bodyguards didn't wake up or...come out here to check on you?" He asked curiously and she narrowed her eyes, she knew he was stalling.

"My dad is an extremely heavy sleeper, I could blast the tv as loud as I want and he wouldn't even move." She shrugged before frowning,"When I came out of my room the body guards weren't there...they were new too." She was simply puzzled because her father had insisted that they had always had the same guards.

Before Percy could utter another word Piper clapped a hand over his mouth,"Before you say anything else you WILL tell me everything." She commanded and Percy's eyes glazed over, Piper had no idea what she was doing to Percy.

"I will tell you everything." He repeated as if he was a zombie, he felt the urge to do whatever she said, to be for her whenever she needed him.

She listened to his entire story,"After Luke died there were these demigods that burst through the door...one was Annabeth's old protector Grover who was part goat. He had betrayed us and...was trying to kill her. I got so angry that I killed Grover...and his demigod followers. This whole time he had been posing as a weak and scared part goat but had actually been...a spy. No one believed me when I told them he had tried to kill her...the way I handled it seemed like I only wanted his head on a platter." He whispered gravely,"Then, since I killed those demigods...one of them happened to be a child of Zeus...I was punished and thrown into tartarus where Kronos tortured me. Everyone hated me...they hated me because I served justice. The demigods hated me for killing their own and Grover and the gods hated me for killing their children." Percy whispered and Piper's eyes widened at the story. Yes he had told her about his assumptions and how he was certain she was a child of Aphrodite, she couldn't believe he had endured so much as he told her everything Kronos had done to him in the years he had been there.

The gods were real? As far-fetched as it seemed after what she's seen today she didn't doubt it. It actually took her a while to get over her shock; at first she was convinced Percy belonged in an asylum...but it all made sense. Why else could she steal whatever she wanted?

"Who's Annabeth?" Her voice was still laced with charmspeak that still had Percy under a spell.

In a monotone he responded,"The girl I used to love...well I still love her but she betrayed me and broke my heart." His eyes widened and he glared murderously at her, soon she was backed up against the side of the house and Percy had his hands pressing her to the house and he grasped her shoulders tightly.

"Stop charmspeaking." He growled and she gaped at him, his face was slightly visible under the porch light and it cast a shadow on him making him look evil.

"I didn't mean to!" She protested and she realized that he was angry about Annabeth, he didn't like mentioning her or thinking of her at all...because she could literally feel his emotions of pain and anger from love rolling off him in waves. She felt nerved by the way she was pressed against the house and wondered if he would hit her out of anger.

She looked at him knowingly,"You miss her don't you?" She asked soothingly but Percy just bowed his head and ignored her while still keeping her against the wall. He wanted to forget all about Annabeth, move on...he could couldn't he? She wasn't loyal to him so why should he be thinking about her? He had just gotten out of tartarus...he could never forget that. He could forget about the blonde right? He had to...because thinking about her was causing him too much pain. Yes...she would be out of his hair for good...he would move on.

"I want to forget." He murmured before staring right at Piper who stared at him quizzically.

"You can't just forget about love! It takes time Percy-" He glared at her in disbelief before letting out a snort.

"Well she sure as Hades forgot about me, Piper I will forget about her. I'll move on, you'll see." He said defiantly, he tried to walk away but Piper reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

"Percy, give it time at least." She told him softly but he then had a weird look in his green eyes.

"Do you think I did the right thing...by killing those demigods?" He asked unsurely but his voice held a dark tone that sent shivers down her spine. Honestly, she did think he did the right thing; he was just trying to protect his friends and family.

"Of course, you were trying to save people...friends and family. I would have done the same thing." She said honestly, suddenly she was back against the house and Percy's lips crashed onto hers. He kissed her roughly and she froze before finding herself giving into the kiss...she knew he was using her to get over Annabeth...she couldn't think straight from lack of oxygen because of the kiss. What was the harm? She was kissing back with uncertainty...as odd as it was this was her first kiss yet Percy seemed to know what he was doing. He cupped her face in his large hands, forget, forget, forget. He chanted it over and over again in his head. He could...he felt guilt creep up on him for using Piper but soon brushed it away. This was his release. He continued the mantra forget in his head before realization came to him...he barely knew her.

**"So what? Annabeth hates you and Piper looks better than that stupid daughter of Athena. You need this Percy."**

The voice urged, he buried his hands in her hair and kissed her harder. He could learn to love Piper, she was beautiful, nice, a real fighter. She saved his life for gods sake, and in return he was using her? No he would get to know her, love her. He would make Annabeth regret sending him to tartarus. He knew he was rushing things but he didn't care, he slowly pulled away from the slightly dazed daughter of Aphrodite before smiling widely at her. He knew what he was doing was wrong...he felt like a devil. He was playing her, but he couldn't stop himself, he needed this. Was he being selfish? Of course; But being trapped in tartarus was messing him up and he didn't care.

"Thanks." To Hades with time.

-Line Break-

"Wait, a criminal broke in? Our bodyguards were absent and Percy managed to fight the criminal off? That's why the window is shattered..." Tristan mused before beaming at Percy.

"Thank you so much Percy." He praised and the halfblood merely smiled before glancing over at Piper who was using charmspeak to help convince her father.

"I'm rather a bad luck magnet, I mean you should see how many schools I've blown up." Percy blurted out and cursed his ADHD, he was going through hyperactivity...wasn't his fault he was somewhat excited for being in a nice and warm home.

Tristan seemed to be knocked out of his daze and a small smile appeared,"I know just how to repay you."

"This is a pretty crapy reward if you ask me." Percy grumbled as he shifted uncomfortably in his desk, he was sitting beside Piper and fidgeting nervously with his pencil. He had insisted, begged, pleaded, and screamed for Jane not to take him to school. She was Tristan's personal assistant and Piper seemed to have this automatic dislike for Jane and Percy decided to ask her about it later. They were in the chemistry classroom and were the first ones in. The teacher was a young man with a friendly smile and a goatee, he wasn't handsome but he wasn't ugly either. No one a normal teenage girl would swoon over, Piper huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Tell me about it." She grumbled and Percy chuckled before anxiously tapping his pencil against his desk. His sleeves started riding up and he quickly tugged them down to his wrist. He didn't need to be reminded of the horrid scars he bared, Piper noticed and looked at him with a sad expression. She honestly didn't know where this left her and Percy, she barely knew the guy and knew he didn't love her. She, of course, didn't love him. It was a one time thing, all they did was kiss...but she could still feel the buzz of excitement she felt when she shared her first kiss with him.

Percy tried drawing the attention away from himself,"So, what are you in for?" He asked with a slight hint of amusement in his voice.

Piper blushed,"Well...I might of stolen a BMW and some other stuff." She muttered and Percy grinned widely

"What? Man, didn't know we had a little thief running around. I just blew up a ton of schools, the St. Louis Arch, a bus...some other stuff." He shrugged nonchalantly and Piper gaped at him.

"How is that fair? I stole one giant car and get sent here while you blow up multiple things and just now get sent here?" She asked in disbelief, Percy gave her a genuine troublemaker smile. The bell abruptly rang making Percy jump, the teacher chuckled and Percy scowled at him while Piper but a reassuring hand on his arm. It was a friendly gesture and Percy smiled gratefully at her, teens filed in and Percy faced the front of the classroom.

"Hey Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?" A mocking voice called out and Percy's eyes snapped upwards to see a pretty girl wearing way too much make up. She was wearing jeans and a pink shirt, she flipped her black hair behind her and Percy narrowed his eyes at her. She was followed by four other girls who wore the same outfit as she did.

"Does your bimbo friends run this place?" Percy shot back,"Do you get in free by dressing like clowns?" He taunted and the girl looked at him with anger.

"And who do you think you are?" She hissed angrily and Percy merely smirked leaving her slightly stunned.

"None of your business, just shut up and sit down." He snapped and before she could retort the teacher spoke up.

"Isabel, you and your friends should take a seat." The teacher said in a warning tone, Percy's smirk broadened and he waved them goodbye. They all shot him murderous glares before stomping to their seats.

Piper frowned at Percy,"I can take care of myself Percy, next time let me handle it." She hissed and Percy's eyes widened, she sounded just like-

**"Forget about her, start fresh. Stay hidden, you don't need Annabeth."**

The voice whispered and Percy relaxed, was he nerved by the voices in his head? Of course, but he didn't have any control over them so he didn't see the point in trying to resist. He was glad Piper wasn't the typical teenage girl who couldn't stand up for herself or talked about Isabel behind her back instead of face to face.

"Got it." He whispered and Piper cracked a small smile at him before she tried paying attention to the lesson. Percy sat there bored and ran a hand through his hair before glancing around in the room. He saw a latino boy give him a small nod of appreciation, he had short, curly black hair. He grinned at Percy before he resumed doodling in his notebook. Percy cocked an eyebrow before he began writing in his, he felt a flash of visions overcome him and he ground his teeth together and gripped his pencil tightly.

_"We just came to surrender." Grover whispered with his hands in the air, the enemy demigods did so as well. Percy analyzed them carefully, there were about five. Percy had Anaklusmos clutched in his hands tightly and he glanced at Annabeth to see her resolve breaking as she glanced at her old friend._

_She sighed,"Lets go." She muttered and Percy glared at Grover before stepping behind him with a sword to the back of his neck, they marched forwards to the nearly destroyed throne room and Percy eyed Grover cautiously as Annabeth lead the enemy demigods in front of them. He saw Grover's hand itch toward his knife slightly and Percy's eyes widened. He refused to lose Annabeth, she already took a knife for him and he refused to let her take another one. He knew Grover had once been a friend to him...but he betrayed them. Grover now had his hand on the handle of his knife and Percy knew why he didn't seem to care...Grover thought he wouldn't do anything about it. Percy felt fear and anger take over him and he thrust his sword in Grover's back, he let out a loud bleat before falling to his knees and he slumped to the floor...dead. His blood spilt across the floor but Percy felt no remorse, only anger when he killed the coward. This wasn't the Grover knew when he was in sixth grade. Percy then felt the earth tremble as he slowly approached the other demigods, this was a trap._

_Annabeth turned around and gasped in horror,"Percy stop!"_

"Percy, the bell rang." A voice whispered and he jumped when he was awoken to reality. He was still sitting at his desk gripping the edge of it so tightly his knuckles turned white. He let out a gasp before shakily standing to his feet and shouldering his backpack, he saw the same latino standing next to Piper. The class had already left and the teacher ignored them as he typed away on his computer.

He grinned impishly at Percy,"Hey man, I'm Leo Valdez." He thrust out his hand and Percy reached out to shake his hand before his sleeve began to ride up. He recoiled as if slapped and quickly pulled it down, Leo frowned before slowly lowering his hand.

Percy smiled apologetically at him,"Sorry, my name is Percy." Leo nodded and the same smile stretched across his face again.

Percy then turned to Piper,"Where to next?" He asked curiously as he searched in her kaleidoscope eyes.

Leo and Piper groaned,"P.E."

Dodgeball. Hades he thought that game wasn't even allowed in school anymore, if he was hit he knew he was going to crumple. The scars still wracked his body with pain if hit too hard. Percy was on Leo and Piper's team and he gripped the rubber ball tightly, he remembered the last time he played the game...it ended with fireballs and giants. Percy analyzed his opponents like he would in battle; he picked out the weak link in the group...Isabel. She wouldn't be a threat, he could tell by her posture and her bored expression as she examined her nails. The rest of the team shifted as they clutched their weapons tightly while eyeing him warily. Percy was still wearing long sleeves and sweat pants, was he hot? Of course he was, but he was used to a more intense heat. He threw the first ball and it slammed right into a guy named Dylan. He flew backwards and slammed into a wall leaving everyone looking at Percy in shock. The son of Poseidon didn't hesitate to throw the next ball and soon it was like arrows were being shot at him. He jumped, bent, ducked, and rolled to with grace and easily avoided the incoming projectiles. Leo's eyes widened and he fell to the ground when a ball came flying towards him, Piper flung ball after ball mainly trying to his Isabel who was firing back at her.

"That's it Percy!" Coach Hedge yelled and Percy smirked once he flung another ball at the opposing team. As if practiced everyone hit the floor but it hit one kid in the face, Hedge had no sympathy as he sent the kid to the nurse's office. Percy was playing like a demon; he had a mad glint in his eye as he took out teen after teen. One teen stepped forward and flung one at him, his eyes widened and he caught it, once it slammed into his chest he felt agony wrack his body. That's where Kronos had impaled him with a hot knife; he let out a gasp of agony as he felt his body feel pain erupt throughout his entire chest. He stood there frozen for a moment with a look of agony etched on his face.

Piper threw the ball with such ferocity at the racist girl, Isabel. It was surprising, Leo looked at Percy with wide eyes before immediately jumping to his aid and defending him from all balls thrown his way.

**Well, I ****wasn't sure if monsters could be killed with bats but Piper wouldn't have imperial gold or celestial bronze with her so. Yes this "relationship" is faster than my other ones but it's because I wanted to try something new. I've decided to try making them unsure of each other...more like in denial but their really close. I HAVE A POLL UP! Which story do you want to see updated the most? I honestly have no preference...(That Color Silver, Broken) but even with the winner of the poll I will still try to update my other stories as much as possible. Top two with the most votes will be my main focus. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Get along with the voices inside of my head.**

Percy gripped his shirt tightly as he went into the bathroom stall to change, all the boys around him moved out of his way as he walked past them. He felt satisfaction; they feared him and would hopefully leave him alone. Of course he wasn't that lucky, he was shoved from behind and took a step forward to catch himself.

An angry boy stood behind him,"What's wrong newbie? Ashamed to take off your shirt in front of everyone? You're mighty in P.E but look at you now, hiding like a coward." He sneered, Percy saw Leo start to walk up to them but he shot the black haired boy a look that made him freeze in his tracks. Percy glared at the shorter guy in front of him; his eyes were a stormy green and his glare made the boy flinch. It was the glare he had perfected in tartarus, he clenched his hands into fists. He felt rage overcome him; he was not a coward. He grabbed the boy by his shirt and hoisted him in the air, the boy yelped and tried to get himself free but to no avail. A sadistic smile crept along Percy's face; he reveled at the feeling of power. He had gone a hundred years being powerless and now he was no longer weak, no he was the predator. Not Kronos, not Zeus, not Hades, not this boy. He was.

**"Kill him! Come on! You went to tartarus and he calls you a coward? End him!"**

The voice urged but Percy instead put his lips by his ear,"This is how it's going to go, I'm going to put you down and your going to leave me alone or I'll kill you." He whispered fiercely so that only the blonde he held up could hear him. He dropped the blonde who barely landed on his feet as he stared up at Percy fearfully. Before the blonde could run Percy gave him a hard punch to the face making him fly back and smack into a locker. He felt good seeing the boy knocked out; his eye had a large purple bruise surrounding it and his head was drooped and that showed he was no longer conscious. Percy ignored everyone and went into the stall; he peeled off his sweaty, black shirt to reveal that one of his wounds was open and bleeding. He cursed and gritted his teeth, it was that dodge ball he caught...from that exact boy who threw it at him. He growled and ripped off toilet paper before applying pressure to the wound, it soaked through the paper easily and he sighed before grabbing more. He would love to go out of the stall and apply water to close up his wound but he wouldn't risk exposing himself nor would he use toilet water because that's disgusting. He looked at his damp shirt and his eyes widened and he felt the familiar tug in his gut, the water from the shirt drifted upwards and he was shaking from the effort of having to do this, he then applied the water on his wound and watched it soak into his skin. The long scar healed itself but there was still a large red mark there, those scars would never go away. He slowly pulled his clean over his head and relished the feeling of having the cold, damp shirt off of him. He changed his sweats to jeans and walked out of the stall, his shoulders were slumped and he cracked his knuckles before grabbing his bag and leaving the locker room.

"Bout time you got here, we're about to be late to class." Piper hissed and tried to speed walk but Percy grabbed her arm, he didn't want to stay at the school any longer. He couldn't handle wanting to harm anyone who shot so much as a glare in his direction. She looked down at his hand and saw his shirtsleeve had gone up. She saw a large K embedded on his wrist and her eyes widened, she reached out and gently ran her finger along the scar. He yanked his hand away once he felt searing pain course through his veins, he let out a small gasp and Piper winced before pulling him to the side of the hallway.

"I'm sorry Percy, that was really stupid of me." She apologized and felt guilty for causing him pain.

He simply smiled and waved her off,"It only hurts a bit." He assured her though he was lying. He held it back to her and she examined it closely, it was red and looked like it was brutally carved on his skin. It wasn't a clean cut; it was inflicted by a monster.

"Was it Kronos?" She whispered uncertainly once she saw his green eyes flash with pain and slight anger.

"Yes."

"It still hurts." It wasn't a question.

"Yes." His voice just above a whisper and he watched her intently as she traced around the K, careful not to touch it. The touch made his skin tingle and Piper looked up at him with her doe like eyes.

"Did you put it in water or something? Percy are you going to be okay?" She seemed so concerned yet she barely knew him. Well he had practically made out with her last night...

"Everlasting effect, but it doesn't hurt that much." He promised and she winced, she had heard all of the stories, but seeing the scars again was a completely different thing. The bell rang but neither moved, Piper continued looking at Percy's scar and he smiled down at her. She actually cared for him? Would Annabeth care if she knew what had happened?

**"Percy relax, you're with Piper. She cares, Annabeth obviously doesn't or she'd be here for you."**

Percy blinked back tears before slowly pulling his wrist away from Piper,"Sorry, looks like we're late for class." He grumbled while he pulled his shirtsleeve down to cover the giant K that marred his skin. He began to feel self-conscious, he wondered if his scars scared Piper. She seemed to notice his discomfort and slowly intertwined her fingers with his and smiled sadly at him, his cheeks turned a bright red and smiled back somewhat bashfully. He hadn't felt so shy since Annabeth had kissed him in Mt. St Helens. He noticed so many differences between the daughter of Athena and the daughter of Aphrodite. While Annabeth was intimidating, Piper was caring. Annabeth had blonde princess curls; Piper had brown choppy hair that was in a braid. Annabeth had sometimes made him feel extremely stupid because of her hubris...Piper made him feel loved. His smile widened and he squeezed her hand gently.

Piper just shrugged,"Don't worry about it, I don't feel like going anyway."

Percy smirked,"Is the Piper McLean suggesting we ditch school!" He teased and rolled her eyes before tugging him along.

"She sure is." He chuckled and continued to let her drag him, if there was one thing she and Annabeth had in-common it was that they were both independent. Of course he still had to learn about Piper but he liked her, and he would learn to love her, he would learn to forget about Annabeth.

-Line Break-

"Don't talk to me Chase."

"Thalia wait, come on! It's been a year and your still avoiding me!" Annabeth yelled angrily as she stomped after Thalia. The huntress continued walking away from the daughter of Athena and refused to look at her old friend.

"Heartless worm!" Thalia spat,"Leave me alone. You got my cousin killed." She sneered before picking up a dead deer she had shot with her arrow. She whipped out her hunting knife and began skinning it. She kept her eyes on the deer corpse as Annabeth stood in front of her with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Thalia he killed Grover!" Thalia clenched her jaw and angrily stabbed the deer in the face; blood squirted out and decorated the daughter of Zeus's hands with red droplets.

"He killed those demigods!" The raven-haired girl scowled before twisting the knife in the animal's face pretending it was Annabeth.

"He's a monster and you defend him! He's a murderer and tartarus will be good for him." Thalia threw the deer and knife to the ground and finally stood toe to toe with Annabeth. Her electric blue eyes pulsing with power and anger as she glared at the calm grey eyes of the girl she had raised.

"HE IS MY COUSIN!" She screeched and shoved the blonde roughly,"He saved your life and in payment you kill him? He loved you!" Thalia screamed and tears ran down her face and Annabeth looked at her incredulously.

The blonde then clenched her fist in anger,"He never loved me, he killed innocents, sure I cared for him but he never loved me like I loved him. No, he's a sadistic monster-" She didn't get to finish before a thunderous crack was heard, Annabeth flew backwards and slammed into a large tree. Her back ached and her mouth pooled with blood, she groaned before spitting it out onto the forest floor.

Thalia stomped towards her with a blue aura pulsing with power surrounding her,"He loved you! You were his mortal anchor, his best friend, Hades he even killed Grover for you. Yet you doubt his love and loyalty?" She spat,"You got it all wrong Annabeth, you're the monster, the murderer. Not Percy, all he wanted to do was protect you because he loved you. I swear on the Styx I'm not lying about any of this, Grover did try to kill you but no one listened to me." Thunder rumbled and Thalia just shook her and turned her back on the stunned blonde.

"I hate you Annabeth, you turned your back on family, you never abandon family. He loved you, and you killed him. You know, you were right. Children of Poseidon and children of Athena don't mix." She whispered before walking away from Annabeth who was silent, tears streamed down her face and she buried her face in her hands. What had she done? She never listened to reason, because pride overcame her love for Percy. Because children of Poseidon and children of Athena don't mix.

Percy smiled out at the large pond as he sat beside a content Piper who was toying with grass as she watched fish swim by.

"Wow, this is beautiful Piper. But what if we get caught?" Percy wasn't one to be afraid of getting in trouble but he didn't want Piper getting in trouble.

Piper shrugged,"Then we get in trouble, don't tell me your afraid! You've blown up dozens of schools remember." She teased and he mock scowled at her.

"It's not me I worry about, don't want my favorite thief getting in more trouble." Piper chuckled and shook her head.

"Is that my nickname now? Thief?" She asked in mock annoyance and Percy grinned, wise girl, the name crossed his mind and he scowled.

**"Forget about her, she never loved you. But Piper could, Piper could be whom you need. Come on Percy, let go."**

Usually the voice in his head was evil but this wasn't what he expected from the voice, he didn't try to deny the voice or contradict it at all. He got along with the voices inside of his head; they had been his only company in his years in hell.

He shook his head,"Nope, it's gotta be clever like...Bandit!" He exclaimed and Piper rolled her eyes.

"Bandit...that's what you're going for?" She snorted but he knew she was teasing; he smiled at her.

"Yep, it's brilliant." He said rather proudly and she chuckled.

"Fine seaweed head."

He raised an eyebrow,"Lame."

She frowned,"Fish face?"

"Tacky."

She pursed her lips in concentration,"Kelp head."

He thought of Thalia,"Overdone."

"Barnacle beard."

He remembered Athena calling Poseidon that and cringed,"Disgusting."

She sighed,"Looks like I'm as bad as picking out nicknames as you are."

He gaped,"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked somewhat offended.

She smirked,"Whoops, did I say that out loud?" She asked in feign innocence, her eyes had turned green, a beautiful grass green that captivated him. A devious smirk overcame his angelic features and his hand shot up into the air, water flew out of the pond and splashed Piper in the face. She gasped and glared murderously at him, he laughed before he was suddenly shoved playfully...but he lost his balance and was completely submerged in water.

Drowning.

Panic.

Fear.

Pain.

Water.

Kronos.

He thrashed wildly, not even registering that he had escaped tartarus. He let out a scream and desperately clawed his way to the surface. Fish got in his way as they began talking to him excitedly.

"The hero of Olympus has returned!"

"Milord!"

"We've heard so much about you!"

He ignored them and felt fear claw savagely at his heart and he swam even faster to get out of the pond. He was holding his breath because that's what he had to do in tartarus, if he breathed he feared that he would die.

_Water filled his lungs and he let out a muffled scream of agony._

He kicked furiously.

_He felt like he would explode from lack of oxygen._

He could see Piper staring down at him worriedly as he struggled to reach the surface.

_He fought to rip himself free from his plastic prison as water gushed into his nose._

Almost there.

_He choked and tried to breathe, he was a son of Poseidon, he should have been able to._

He felt his hand break through the surface.

_He wanted to die._

His head finally emerged.

_His throat burned and his head was pounding, his stomach was churning worse than the nerve wrecking waves that tossed him around._

He scrambled out of the water and clawed the earth nervously; he was shaking violently as he glared at the water. He was completely dry and Piper looked panic stricken as she rushed towards him, she remembered him telling her how Kronos incased him in plastic before dumping him in a lake. How the lake could somehow generate waves that rocked him around wildly.

_A cruel laugh was heard as he felt himself being dragged to shore, once the water leaked out of the bag he spluttered frantically and inhaled as much oxygen as possible. The plastic was torn off of him and he rolled to his knees, he braced himself against the ground and his arms shook like noodles. His nails dug into the earth and dirt clung to them. He trembled as he threw up water and blood, even when all the water was out of his system he continued to dry-heave. His throat still burned as if set on fire, his head pounded even harder, his stomach was doing flips, he was nauseated, his lungs ached as they tried to fill themselves with air. A cold draft ran over his body and he shivered before he collapsed next to his vomit careful not to lay in it, he twitched every now and then and sucked in a ragged breath. Gold eyes pierced his green ones and suddenly Kronos scythe plunged right into his Achilles heel located on the small of his back. He screamed in agony and withered around desperately trying to escape the cursed blade. His soul was being reaped. The pain was excruciating and he felt like he was being burned alive, flashes of Annabeth ran through his mind. When they first met, saving her from the weight of the sky, their first kiss, her princess curls, her beautiful smile. He let out a heartbreaking sob as tears began to fall down his face._

_Kronos put more pressure on the scythe and laughed with an unearthly ancientness,"Come now Percy, be a soldier. Your mortal anchor...what was her name? Annabeth? Ah yes, she hates you. She betrayed you, yet you still have the curse. Well, I guess it's gone now, but how? How could you still love her?" He asked, mostly to himself because Percy was to busy screaming._

_Kronos then shook his head,"Oh Percy, you still show your betrayers loyalty? Well just so you know how stupid you are let me welcome you your first day in hell with many more to come! Curtsy of Annabeth Chase!" He ripped the blade out before stabbing that same spot again._

Lips crashed onto his waking him from his day-mare, he saw Piper kissing him. He felt a single tear slide down his cheek before he cupped her face in his hands; she wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him harder and she could taste the salt of his tear, it hurt her seeing him in such a distressed state, she dug her hands in his hair and pulled him closer. The kiss was amazing; he felt warmth spread throughout him, because she made him feel loved not stupid. He pulled away before crushing Piper to his chest, he buried his face in her hair and felt like crying, he held in his tears as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

"I'm so sorry Percy, I didn't mean to push you in! I-" She tried to explain but Percy cut her off.

"No, thank you Piper." He whispered hoarsely and she squeezed her eyes shut and hugged him tighter.

Percy felt so weak, so vulnerable, but Piper was okay with that. He felt hatred towards Annabeth but a longing for her and it was tearing him apart, because a large part of his heart still belonged to her. When she took part in his sentence he felt like he had already died, it was a homicide, he was traumatized that she had left him behind. It was like she put a knife straight through his chest, he should have put up more of a fight, he should have given up on her. No one could have hurt him like she did and he was weak around her because he would have done anything for her. She drained him, he could still see her grey eyes looking at him with such an intense hatred that he wanted to throw up.

He threw all thoughts of the blonde out of his head once he felt Piper kiss his cheek,"We should get going, Jane is so going to chew us out for this." Piper groaned and Percy smiled at her in adoration.

"This was definitely worth it."

-Line Break-

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves! Ditching school, that's for delinquents!" Jane ranted as the two "delinquents" sat in the back of the car. Piper was seething and Percy stared out the window as the world whizzed by, he slowly reached over and grabbed Piper's hand. She snuck a glance at him but he continued staring out the window, she smiled before she looked at his K scar. She felt guilt ridden that she had pushed Percy into the pond, it had been an accident but seeing his reaction was frightening. The way his bright green eyes turned dull and clouded with fear, how he shook violently, the way his bottom lip quivered as he stared out at nothing. His eyes were glazed over and his fearful look made her want to scream in anger that he had been put through crap because he killed some demigods. The mere thought of Annabeth Chase made her blood boil, the girl he had claimed he loved, she obviously didn't feel the same way if she left him to die. She was the reason he feared his own element. When he was in such distress she didn't know how to snap him out of it so she kissed him, her lips still tingled and just the thought of the kiss made her face turn red.

Once the car stopped Percy released Piper's hand and shoved his hands into his pockets as he got out of the car, he waited by Piper as Jane stormed in the house. He sighed and leaned against the car before running a hand through is hair, Piper leaned by him and mimicked his sigh.

"Well I'm in trouble." She shrugged and was inwardly thrilled that her dad would HAVE to pay her some attention.

"If it makes you feel better, I am too." Percy said with a small smile on his lips, he missed getting in trouble, laughing, smiling, and even going to school. He never got to do any of this in tartarus and even though he had hated school it was suddenly more bearable.

Piper chuckled before shaking her head,"Let's just get this over with." She took the lead again and Percy followed her into the house. Once they walked in Tristan and Jane both stood side by side with their arms crossed and glared at the teens.

Percy tried to suppress a smile,"I'm sorry Tristan, and it was my idea. I needed to clear my head and Piper helped me out." He explained with a shrug and Tristan's eyes widened in horror, Piper realized what her dad was thinking and made a face.

"Dad! It wasn't like that, we just talked!" She exclaimed with a bright red face and Percy wore a dubious expression.

"Like what? What did I miss?" He asked, oblivious to the situation.

Piper buried her face in her hands,"Nothing Percy." She grumbled awkwardly and he rolled his eyes before shrugging.

Tristan relaxed before fixing his glare on Percy,"What was such a big deal that you had to ditch school for? You got Piper in trouble with the school, and you're in trouble too!" He hissed angrily, Percy felt frustrated by the way Tristan talked to them as if they were little kids.

Percy met his gaze defiantly,"You want to know why? I started having flashbacks of how my grandfather beat me. Piper was just being a good friend and helping me out, so blame me not her." Piper flinched internally when he had said friend, what was she really to him? They had just met yet she already felt close to him because he had told her his life story...not that he had most of a choice seeing as she unintentionally used charmspeak on him.

Tristan's hard gaze instantly softened, he had seen the scars,"Oh...Percy I apologize, I shouldn't have made such accusations. And Piper, that was really kind of you to-" A phone rang, and Piper felt herself crumbling. Percy noticed her heartbroken expression and winced before looking at his hands, he wanted to comfort her, wrap his arms around her and hold her but not in front of Jane and her father. Talk about awkward.

Tristan coughed and took out his phone before frowning,"Sorry I've got to take this." He walked out of the room and Piper huffed angrily as she watched him walk away from her, she was accustomed to seeing the back of his head.

Jane stood there formally in her business skirt standing up straight with her lips in a thin line, her hair was tightly pulled into a bun and she rolled her eyes as she looked at them in distain,"I suppose you delinquents are off the hook-" Piper felt anger cloud over her, she was about to have her father's attention but his stupid phone rang. She was a dam about to break and here was Jane trying to take the roll of parent and it was completely unacceptable.

Piper's tongue lashed out,"Shut up Jane!" She screamed and stomped away to her room with tears blurring her vision. Percy was left with Jane and twiddled his thumbs awkwardly before he gave her a nod and ran after Piper. He burst into her room to see her with tears in her eyes as she sat on her bed; she hugged her knees to her chest and glared angrily at the ground. Percy winced and he quietly shut the door behind him, he walked closer to her and sat next to her. Both sat in silence before Percy comfortingly wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

**Don't feel like commenting on reviews today, but bam bam turkey and ham! I did it! Don't forget to vote on the poll, comment below and let me know how I did.**


	5. Chapter 5

**We were Bonnie and Clyde; no on the inside you were Jekyll and Hyde.**

"Not right now Percy." She sniffed, she knew she should talk to him about it...he talked to her about his problems all the time. But she wasn't feeling up to the heart to heart Percy wanted to have.

He frowned,"Piper, come on. Open up to me." He pleaded worriedly, she was silent. He felt frustrated that she refused to speak to him whatsoever while he had spilled his guts to her. He didn't have the patience for this and the earth shook slightly, it was enough to jolt Piper out of her silent fit. She looked at him in shock but he was already out the door, she stared after him sadly before glaring at her hands, she surrounded herself with her usual brick wall. She knew he deserved to know more but now...she wasn't in the mood.

Percy was walking around randomly; the air was cool and blew his ruffled hair back. He let out a breath and pulled at his sleeves to ensure they wouldn't ride up. Even though it was night time it had become a habit, his eyes easily adjusted to the darkness and he became lost in his thoughts. Annabeth. Piper. Annabeth for the longest time had shut him out until he saved her from Atlas, they had become Bonnie and Clyde, they used to be inseparable. But in reality she was Jekyll and Hyde. Her personality had changed once he killed Grover, she turned on him without another thought, and he knew her mother's accusations also strengthened her thoughts of his alleged treachery. She wanted to make her mom proud of her and she didn't think a thing about him whatsoever, just about being right and making her temperamental mother proud.

In his head he tried to think of how he could have done better, how he could have made everyone happy and be with Annabeth. He thought of the life he could have had with her, it made him teary eyed and he was interrupted from his musings by a loud scream. There was a car parked on the side of the road and he could hear a man screaming for help, he rushed to the car to see a man pointing a gun at another man. Percy could feel his anger grow as he watched the scene go down. An open water bottle sat in the car and an idea formed in Percy's head.

"Please! Please take my wallet, my baby girl is in there and so is my wife!" The victim pleaded and the crook just laughed cruelly, Percy could see himself as the victim and Kronos holding the gun at his head and he felt raw fury surge through him before he tackled the crook to the ground. He forgot all about his master plan. Because rage had overcome him, and rage was in charge. A shot went off but Percy was to preoccupied as he punched the man several times in the face. He snagged the gun from the man's hands and chucked it away from them before he continuously bashed the man's face. He loved the feeling of power he got from it, how he was no longer at the bottom of the food chain but at the top. He had killed Kronos, yes he did, and he had loved it. Because he was powerful, this man wasn't and this man was evil. The criminal's face was covered in blood as Percy continued to beat the living Hades out of him.

He saw Kronos.

_"Annabeth never loved you." The titan sneered cruelly._

His punches became harder.

_"Pathetic!"_

This thug was about to kill an innocent man, a father, a husband, a son.

He throws his heart and soul into his devastating blows and the man beneath him lets out a choked plea for help. Percy didn't stop, he could hear the crunch of bone as he hit the man harder and harder, his muscles screamed in protest as he brought his fist down in a deadly arc but he didn't care. This man was about to kill a father, said father's child was in the back seat. Trauma. She'd be traumatized for life, like he had been when he witnessed the wrath of hell.

_"Do you see that man?" Kronos whispered as he grabbed Percy's hair and yanked it up as hard as he could forcing Percy to look at the man. Percy hissed and he felt his scalp start to burn from the strong pull of Kronos. He looked to see a man running through flaming cactus fields and winced as he heard his screams of agony, the smell of burnt flesh filled the air and it made Percy sick to his stomach._

_"He was betrayed as well you know, a lovely family man might I add. He killed a son of Hades because he was protecting his baby girl from the monster." Kronos chuckled before shoving Percy closer to the cactuses; the son of Poseidon felt tears coming. He only wore tattered clothing that offered no protection at all. The flames were palpable even from the good five feet distance he had from the cactuses. He was sweating bullets. The fear and heat combined had made him hotter than usual, his legs felt like jelly and he looked back at the golden eyes that had a mad glint of cruelty in them._

_Kronos cackled,"It's your turn boy."_

"Please...stop!" The criminal screamed jolting Percy back to the present. Percy clenched his jaw before water flew to his hands from the open water bottle in the car and solidified into a knife. He paused and glanced back at the man he had been protecting, the family man was watching him in disbelief and slight gratitude. He snuck a glance at the car to see the wife cradling the little girl, telling her it would all be okay while she tried protecting her from the scene.

**"Kill him! He almost broke this family apart!"**

Without hesitation Percy plunged the knife deep in the man's chest. He felt it. Power, satisfaction, justice. The man let out a gasp and convulsed, he slowly shut his eyes before his breathing altogether stopped. He lied there, limp, and Percy had never felt better. He looked at the pistol that laid beside the man's dead body before slyly shoving it into his pocket just in case. The loyal, kind Percy was gone. He died in tartarus. The new Percy was here, the strong, merciless Percy. He smirked before ripping the blade out of his chest and standing up, he spat on the corpse in disgust before turning around to see the father staring at him wide eyed. Percy gave him a nod before he cautiously walked closer to the woman and her crying child. His blade turned to water and he healed his split knuckles before slowly walking towards the two.

"Hey." Percy whispered,"Don't worry, the bad man is gone." He said softly to the little girl, she looked about five and she snuck a glance at him with a tear covered face. She was a black haired child and when she saw him she hid her face again.

He sighed,"It's okay, your daddy is still here." He murmured before he glanced at the woman, he gave her a brisk nod before walking away. He didn't want a reward for his good deed, because knowing that bum was going to rot in tartarus would be good enough. He didn't want to stick around any longer either because he had a daughter of Aphrodite to get back to. He felt giddy, he had delivered justice and it had never felt so good.

"Where have you been!" Yelled a hysterical Piper,"You've been gone for two hours Percy." She hissed and he winced before putting on an emotionless mask.

"Just walking around, I'm fine Piper." He shrugged before walking to the living room to go lay down on his couch, he didn't want to discuss the whole "I killed someone about two hours ago" thing. Piper hesitated before slowly following him to the living room. His shoulders were still sagged yet his chin was held high, she sighed.

"Percy, I'm sorry about not opening up to you." She murmured, he turned to her and merely smiled.

His green eyes lit up brightly,"You're fine Piper, turns out I needed to do some thinking for myself."

She nodded slowly before a grin crept along her face,"Alright, good. I actually thought of a pretty good nickname for you. Since your dad is the sea god and the sea has seaweed in it and sometimes you're pretty dense, seaweed brain!" She proclaimed proudly. His smile immediately fell from his face and he turned rigid.

"Don't call me that."

_"Nice going seaweed brain" The blonde shot sarcastically and Percy frowned._

_"Wise girl I didn't mean to blow up the school!" He defended and she laughed, his eyes widened and a blush appeared on his cheeks._

_"What are we going to do with you Percy?" She asked mockingly before tightening her ponytail. Her princess curls that bounced as she touched her hair admittedly mesmerized him._

_"Uhh, throw me in the ocean?" He attempted to joke but Annabeth just rolled her eyes._

_"This is why I call you seaweed brain." Her striking grey eyes brightened as he scowled at her, because they were supposed to be enemies. Though they were friends it was still fun irritating each other._

_"Oh shut up smart a-" She punched his arm and he yelped before smiling sheepishly,"I meant to say smart...apple." He defended poorly making the girl chuckle before the two began running away from the school._

The memories hurt worse than the ones about Kronos, because they used to be that close. He loved Annabeth's laugh, hair, eyes, smile. Her. He still did and it completely sucked because he fell for her, hard. How does she show her undying love? Throwing him in hell...that's always a turn on.

"Don't ever call me that Piper, anything but that." He hissed before storming to the couch and flopping down on his stomach. Yeah it hurt but he was angry and really didn't think that through, he slyly slid the pistol from out of his pocket and shoved it under the couch. Piper grimaced, despite her better judgment she walked to his side and sat on the floor. They were face to face and he appeared to be sulking, she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She whispered and he looked into her multicolored before sighing, he didn't want to but he would. If he was going to fall for Piper and get over Annabeth then they'd both have to open up to each other.

He rested his chin on his arm,"Only if you open up to me first...about your dad." He said hesitantly and she frowned, did she really want to bring up her dad? Percy had spilled his entire story about hell to her, the least she could do was open up to him.

"My dad and I used to be pretty poor, we were both okay with that though. We were close until he started acting, now he never has time for me." She muttered bitterly, Percy nodded slowly before he sat up and pat the couch seat next to him. Piper sat next to him and he intertwined his fingers in hers making her smile.

"That really sucks, have you tried telling him this?" He asked and suddenly felt very stupid for asking the question. She probably had and he wasn't Dr. Phil or Oprah.

She sighed,"More then I can count, he says he'll spend time with me then here's another phone call and stupid Jane comes over all the time." She fumed and Percy chuckled, he wasn't exactly sure why he did so but Piper was simply adorable when she was annoyed. The way her lips were pursed and how her eyebrows were furrowed.

She frowned at him,"What?"

His eyes widened and he felt heat rise to his cheeks,"Erm nothing! Just laughing because you called Jane stupid is all." He would love to say he lied smoothly but he really didn't.

Piper just shook her head,"Whatever, now why can't I call you seaweed brain?" She searched his eyes for a moment but saw nothing but emotionlessness as he tried to keep his calm facade.

"That's what Annabeth called me."

Piper face palmed,"Crap! Of course she called you that! It's only the most brilliant sea name ever." She groaned before looking at him sadly,"Sorry Percy." A small smile played on his lips and for that moment in time Annabeth left his thoughts completely because all he could focus on was Piper.

He smiled before kissing her cheek,"I won't hold it against you." He murmured and her face turned a light pink.

"Good." She mumbled. The two stayed up chatting, Tristan was late at work. They were asking each other questions and telling stories and laughing. Soon she laid her head down on his shoulder as they continued conversing.

"Then Thalia became the lieutenant of Artemis since Zoe died, but she was out up into the stars. You should see her, she's beautiful." He said somewhat dreamily as he thought of his old friend in the stars, he missed Zoe but he couldn't forget how brightly she shined down on the world and it made him happy.

Piper smiled,"You've been on so many adventures! Kicking butt with water and killing people with swords! All I can do is charmspeak and it isn't very useful." She said somewhat dismayed, she was a tomboy and finding out her mother was one of the most girly goddesses was like a smack to the face.

He pulled away from her so he could look her in the eye,"Are you kidding me? You can have whatever you want with your gift. It's actually really powerful, and if you want I could teach you how to sword fight. It's been a while but I'm sure I could teach you something." He offered and she just looked up at him in amazement, he had been to hell yet he was optimistic about his dead friend and supportive of her lame powers.

"Thanks." She whispered bashfully, Percy grinned and soon his arm was wrapped around her shoulders and her arms were gently wrapped around his torso. She was careful with his scars because they were brutal and she didn't want to cause him more pain then she already had. His chin was resting on her hair and she was snuggled deeper into his chest, he felt a small sting of pain but ignored it once he saw the daughter of Aphrodite start to fall asleep.

"A-after I stole the BMW my dad freaked out and-" She let out a small sigh before closing her eyes and falling asleep, he smiled softly while sitting there with her in his arms. He couldn't sleep, no not with the curse he bared. But seeing Piper sleep peacefully was good enough for him.

Percy couldn't sleep and it was killing him. Scratch that. He wanted to kill himself. He was going crazy as he continued looking at the clock on the wall as hours slowly passed by, by the time it was 2 o'clock AM he finally gave Piper a little shake. She groaned before her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him sleepily.

"What!" She grumbled before rubbing her eyes, she let out a small yawn before resting her head on his chest. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes and he looked down at her with a look of exhaustion.

"I can't sleep and I'm really bored." He complained and she rolled her eyes.

"Percy-"

"No I seriously can't sleep, I'm cursed and if I even take a five minute nap I'll be induced in a coma like state before I see every torture Kronos did to me. I'll hear myself scream, feel the tears, see my own flesh being ripped apart and...I'll feel it too. All of it." He murmured, he felt guilty for waking her up but he was extremely bored and Piper was fun to talk to.

"Gods what did he do to you." She whispered, it wasn't a question because she knew what Kronos had done.

Percy winced,"Sorry I just really-" Then she kissed him, it was a chaste kiss but none the less it made his cheeks red.

"Come on, let's go watch a movie." They stood up and she grabbed his hand, he smiled widely as she dragged him to her room to find a movie. She was too good to him.

-Line Break-

"Uh, Leo I think you're doing it wrong." Percy stuttered.

Leo rolled his eyes,"Percy, I got this. I'm awesome and especially certified for dissecting frogs." He said proudly before hesitantly poking its uncut stomach with a knife.

Percy frowned,"Leo I think we're supposed to cut it up not prod it."

Leo shot Percy a glare,"Then you do it!" He exclaimed and Percy laughed at him before taking the knife and stabbing the frog. Leo flinched and Percy snickered, he soon sliced it open before he froze.

_Percy struggled feebly with the rope that bound his hands on the rack,"Let me out!" He snarled before giving a vicious yank to his binds, he was losing his mind being trapped down here. It's been forty years and his insanity was taking a hold of him._

_Kronos began whistling as he took out a knife,"Now...let's give you a pretty little scar on those nice little wrists of yours." He mocked._

_Percy glared menacingly at him,"Go ahead! Do it! My father will come for me!" He snarled, he actually had a little hope that his father would come for him, believe he was doing what was best. He could see it, his father storming in and killing Kronos for touching him, and then he would take him to the surface and hug him. What he wouldn't do for a hug. He had hope; hope his father would come for him. That's what family was supposed to do; they were supposed to be there for each other. His father loved him and he would help him escape hell._

_Kronos let out a roar of laughter,"You think he'll come for you!" He bellowed before shoving the blade in his wrist,"Poseidon never cared for you, why else would you be down here? Because he didn't want to put up the effort to save you. Hope is useless down here Percy, it's useless everywhere. Now a days you can't rely on anyone especially family." Kronos spat bitterly and Percy held back a scream from the blade piercing his wrist._

Percy dropped the knife and it clattered to the floor making everyone look at the two of them, his face had turned a sickly white and he stepped away from the frog. Sweat beaded down his forehead and he swiped his moist palms on his jeans before self-consciously tugging his sleeves down, he shot everyone murderous glares.

"What? No one's dropped anything before?" He snapped angrily, trying to cover up his nervousness and his anxiety. Everyone began whispering before going back to slicing their frogs open.

Leo looked at Percy with concern,"Perce you okay."

"I'm fine." Percy muttered before gathering his belongings and storming out of the classroom, he couldn't handle the whispers or stares. It was killing him. He hated Leo's concern, he knew Leo was just trying to be a good friend but he couldn't handle it right now. He walked quickly away from the room and tugged up his sleeves a little to look at his scars. K. He gritted his teeth and before he knew it he was on the ground, his backpack weighed him down and he grunted in pain once his wrist smacked on the ground. He had attempted to catch himself but he was too caught off guard and now his scar felt like it was on fire.

He looked up to see a blonde guy on the ground,"I'm sorry!" He exclaimed, he looked at Percy with electric blue eyes and scrambled to his feet. He offered Percy a hand and Percy grasped it while giving the boy a grateful nod.

"No you're fine-"

"Whoa what happened to your wrist?" The boy asked abruptly and Percy clenched his jaw before tugging his sleeve down.

"Nothing." He grumbled before he started walking off, the boy quickly reached out and caught Percy by his arm. Percy growled before ripping his arm free and glared murderously at the boy who threw his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, I'm new here. My name's Jason Grace." He stuck out his hand but Percy began sizing him up. Jason was muscular yet not as muscular as Percy, he had a clear face and didn't have the white scars on his face like Percy. Percy could have sworn those eyes looked familiar, Grace. Thalia. Percy's eyes widened and he saw the resemblance in the two, their eyes, and their smiles. Thalia's brother, her little brother was alive? She didn't speak about him much.

Percy hesitantly shook his hand,"Percy." Jason smiled before picking up one of Percy's binders and handing it to him, Percy grinned, maybe he could like Jason Grace. He'd do it for Thalia, he'd look out for her little brother. She had stuck up for him before he was thrown in tartarus.

Percy wrapped an arm around Jason's shoulders in a friendly manner,"Well Jason, I think we'll become great friends." Jason chuckled before slinging an arm around Percy's shoulder as well as they began randomly walking through the halls of the school. Jason was rather surprised by Percy's friendly attitude towards him all of a sudden but didn't complain because he needed a friend. They began chatting happily and Percy slyly prodded to see if Jason knew of his demigod heritage. He didn't.

-Line Break-

"He's alive, he's here!" Thalia yelled in shock before tears welled in her eyes, her cousin was out there. Free.

Nico nodded,"Yeah I helped-" He didn't get the chance to finish before Thalia gave him a sharp kick to the family jewels. Nico fell to the ground in pain, he let out a loud groan and he gasped.

Thalia glared menacingly at him,"That's what you get! You didn't vouch for Percy, you let him get ripped to shreds in hell. You didn't help him, I did!" She roared, her hands cackled with electricity and her blue eyes flashed dangerously.

Nico looked up at her sadly,"I know I was a huge jerk, but Thalia we can't tell anyone else. Only told you and Annabeth."

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed violently,"Of course, the murders of Percy have to stick together." She growled scornfully,"Well I'm going to find him without you two monsters." She snarled before she began to walk away.

Nico called out,"Well Annabeth and I already know where he is." She froze and felt fury build in her before lightning struck the ground.

**And I finally got this chapter finished, I kept trying and drawing out blanks but bam it's done! I dedicate this chapter to...MYSELF! Yes I know you all wanted your own dedications but I obviously deserved it...haha okay. Well where i am it's snowing so that's cool. Again I'm pulling ANOTHER Anaklusmos14 and I'm rambling, crap. Well anyway here it is. **

**Urias Invictus: **The idea that you had to create fear in Percy at the sight of water...amazing. You truly have a talent with writing, Ma'am.

Good chapter, many feels and oh I want more, but don't let me rush you.  
Invictus

**I try, only review I feel like posting, sheesh I'm getting lazy. Guess I'm pulling a Sadie Winchester now :)**

**well holidays are almost here! Yes! Debated whether or not to do some Christmas chapters. **

**WINNER OF THE POLL IS THAT COLOR SILVER and BROKEN! YES THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS! I was asked if the due date December 11th was on purpose because 11 is way better than the lame number 14, answer is yes. **


	6. Chapter 6

Percy opened his eyes and found himself in a large arena, it was filled with weapons and the seats were empty. There was no sun, white surrounded the arena and he frowned, where was he?

"You're dreaming Percy." A voice called out to him and he jumped in surprise. He turned around to see...Annabeth. She wore a red leather jacket and black demi jeans, she had on black combat boots and a brown whip was coiled on her hip. He felt immense anger as he glared murderously at the smirking blonde. His heart ached and he had to turn away from her once he looked into her familiar, vivid eyes. Her same, beautiful smile was heartbreaking and he felt sick to his stomach. He wanted to puke. Her princess curls flowed freely over her shoulders and she slowly approached Percy still smirking.

"Annabeth, why are you here? How?" He snarled quietly but refused to look at her. Because he would crumble, his resolve would be decimated once he got lost in her smile, her eyes, her hair, her laugh. If he fell asleep he should have been in tartarus suffering nightmares yet he was here. She stopped right in front of him and put a hand tenderly on his cheek, he froze and swallowed thickly as she gently tilted his head closer to hers. A small smile played on her lips, they were inches apart and Percy had to hold his breath, he looked at everything but her. The ground, the arena, anything to keep himself from being mesmerized by her striking grey eyes. A part of him was angry, she had betrayed him, sent him to hell and never looked back and now she was here?

"You really don't know who I am do you?" She whispered before gently stroking his cheek with her thumb. He felt hatred towards her yet he enjoyed her touch he missed it.

He kept his eyes firmly on the ground,"You're Annabeth, I know who you are." He murmured while fighting himself from closing the distance between the two of them and either killing her or kissing her, he felt so conflicted and his head hurt. On one hand he wanted to make her suffer like he had, on the other he wanted to hug her. He wanted to run his hand through her princess curls and hold her. She betrayed him, but a special place for her in his heart he has kept, it was strange because it seemed reserved for her. He was trying to give it to Piper and it had been working until Annabeth came along and ruined everything.

Annabeth's smile turned into a smirk before she stepped away from Percy,"Nope, I'm Nemesis. Otherwise known as Ethan's mother." Percy's eyes widened and he took a step away from her, Ethan. The demigod who had turned evil yet in the end helped Percy save Olympus.

"I like you Jackson, after continuously showing my son mercy despite the fact he kept screwing up makes me like you even more. And I'm glad you don't bow, I may be your superior yet you're always defiant." She nodded approvingly before walking around him in a slow circle as if examining him while he stayed completely frozen, completely rooted to the spot. Because this was still Annabeth's voice and just hearing it made him feel angry and confused at the same time.

She stopped in front of him with a wicked smile on her face,"I'm that little voice you keep hearing, giving you advice. Like I said Percy, I like you." Before he could respond she rammed her fist into his gut, he screamed in agony once she hit his scars. Excruciating pain overcame him and he crumpled to his knees while he tried to regain his breath.

Nemesis shook her head while she looked down at him,"Hm...worse than I thought. All right, I'm here to fix you. And when I say fix," she paused before grabbing his wrist,"I mean help you overcome every obstacles those stupid gods put in front of you." She growled before squeezing his wrist tightly, it's where the K was embedded into his skin. He howled in pain before wrenching his wrist away from her and stumbling to his feet. His wounds were throbbing painfully and "Annabeth" merely smirked at him. He had to look away from her again because everything was coming back to him in a blur, everything about her.

"You really DO see her don't you?" She laughed before cupping his head in her hands and forcing him to look at her,"What's the matter seaweed brain? Did you really think we'd be together forever? Idiot." She mocked before giving him a small kiss in the lips, his eyes widened and he shook with anger before shoving her off. The kiss would have intoxicated him had it not had been for her earlier words.

Annabeth or Nemesis glared at him,"She betrayed you without a second thought yet you still love her? Look at Piper! She's never done anything to you but be there for you, she's even siting with you as we speak, trying to wake you up from this nightmare. From the nightmare you should be having, would Annabeth ever do that for you? No! She threw you in hell!" Nemesis roared and Percy's anger flared,"She never loved you! I will never love you!" She screamed taking over as Annabeth again,"I'll just throw you into the pit again and again because your loyalty means nothing to me! I hate you!"

Percy's nostrils flared before he tackled her to the ground,"I was always there for you!" He snarled before giving her a sharp punch to the face,"I've never left your side and this is how you treat me?" He roared before he began choking her, his large hands squeezed her neck tightly and all he saw was red.

"It's not fair!" He screamed.

_"Annabeth you have to let me explain." Percy pleaded as she glared at him, her hands on her hips with a scowl etched on her face._

_"Why should I listen to you?" She growled and he sucked in a breath as he looked at her in disbelief._

_"Annabeth I care about you, you're my best friend."_

_She shook her head,"Well I hate you, and I won't hear what you have to say traitor."_

"I was always by your side Annabeth!"

_Percy floated in the center of the air bubble with Annabeth in his arms as she sobbed loudly into his chest; she had heard the siren's call._

_"It's okay wise girl." He whispered as he rested his chin on her head._

"I loved you!"

_He watched Calypso's island disappear as he sat on the raft while the fog incased him, he didn't leave because of the prophecy. No, he wanted everyone to be safe and he wanted the world to remain that way, but he was leaving his biggest what if for Annabeth. He was making the right choice, because he liked Annabeth a lot, more than he should._

Suddenly he was thrown off of her and landed heavily on his back, he groaned and rolled to his feet once he saw the blonde approaching him with the same knowing smirk she always wore. She didn't have a scratch on her. Yet he felt so much satisfaction in hitting her that he wanted to hit her again, make her bleed, make her scream and cry, choke her to death. But another part of him, wanted to cradle her. Be with her. And it was killing him.

"And this, is why I'm here Percy." She again stepped in front of him. He flinched as she put her hands on his cheeks and her grey eyes searched him green ones. She held a look of concern and empathy,"To help you get stronger, to help you get over her. Because a war is coming, a war where you are a child of the prophecy. I'm here...to help you let go." She whispered before she vanished.

Percy awoke with a start, his mind was clouded and he could barely see anything, he first thought of princess curls and striking grey eyes. He then realized it was all a dream, he yawned and stretched, he blinked in a daze before he noticed Piper standing over him worriedly.

"Gods! Percy are you alright?" She asked in concern, he frowned before looking at the clock; it was three in the morning. He actually slept. He smiled before remembering the goddess's words. He grabbed her hand and pulled Piper toward him, she fell into his embrace as he held her tightly, she was always there.

"I'm fine, but I could use some help." He murmured.

"You're insane, Percy this is crazy."

"I need to get over this Piper! I'm the son of the sea god for Zeus sakes!" Percy exclaimed in frustration as he glared at the pond, Nemesis was right, he needed to wake up from the nightmares he was living in. He plopped down on his butt before slowly throwing putting his entire leg in the water, it was freezing but the cold barely affected him.

_Percy couldn't breathe._

He was now waist deep.

_Crushed lungs._

Chest deep.

_Screams, gurgled screams haunt him as he coughs out blood._

He fights to suppress the memories, he's not in the pit anymore, he's alive.

_Cruel laughter was heard._

He was here with Piper.

_He couldn't move._

He could move.

_He screamed but no one could hear him, no one cared._

Piper cared, she was here with him. He didn't have to scream anymore, he was alive and free. He wanted to laugh till his voice died out; because he wasn't going to continue to be weak and let Kronos rule his life anymore.

_Blood everywhere._

He stiffened as he fought the urge to scream, he was here, he was here. He chanted the mantra trying to ease his nerves but the fear was starting to take over.

_Tears blurred his vision._

He swallowed thickly as the world began to spin.

_Darkness haunted him._

He felt himself slipping away.

Suddenly there was a loud splash behind him and Piper swam up to him, she shivered in the water before giving him a weak smile.

"I won't let you drown." She joked and Percy forgot all about the water, he forgot he was even in it. She saw how distressed Percy was becoming as he went deeper and deeper into the pond; she knew this wasn't easy for him. She wasn't going to stand there helplessly watching nightmares overcome him while she could be helping him. What he did to get put into tartarus was ridiculous, he was trying to protect the people he loved and this is what he got in return, this is what he got as a reward. A grin adorned his face and he reached out and grabbed her hand, she wasn't wet or cold anymore. She looked at him in awe as his green eyes watched her with mirth; she smiled widely at him before examining her arms in shock. She was completely dry and it was crazy because she was in water. She could feel it but wasn't at all wet and it was simply incredible and indescribable.

"Thanks." He murmured before looking down at the water in distress as memories began to slip.

_He was sinking like a rock._

His grip on Piper's hand tightened before he completely submerged himself in the water. He nervously let out a breath and to his relief he could breathe, he saw Piper who was underwater with him as well look around in surprise. He made a giant air bubble over them so she could breathe.

"This is so cool." She murmured as she looked around in surprise, fish swam around them. The moon casted light rays into the water making the water look even more beautiful. Many fish stopped and stared at them making Piper feel uncomfortable, she saw Percy's cheeks turn a bright red as he glared at one of the fish.

"What? No I'm not going to!" He snapped and the fish gave him a smug look making Percy's face redder.

"What?" Piper asked and Percy avoided her gaze shyly. He forgot how at ease he actually felt in the water and with Piper at his side it was even easier. He needed to keep reminding himself that he wasn't in hell anymore; he was on earth with Piper.

"He wants us to...kiss." He muttered and Piper's face turned a light pink, why were fish so creepy?

"Oh...well that's n-not weird." She stammered in embarrassment. Percy smiled bashfully at her; he had forgotten he was even in the water as he sat with Piper. He leaned forward before giving her a small kiss on the cheek, Piper smiled widely at him ignoring the fish. She slowly cupped his face in her small hands; she looked into his now bright green eyes before planting her lips on his. His heart thumped rapidly in his chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. He melted into the kiss; he hadn't felt so at peace in years. Nemesis was right, who needed Annabeth when he had Piper? It was working; Piper was slowly pushing Annabeth out of his heart.

-Line Break-

"He's in Nevada? You've got to be kidding me! Nico you can shadow travel us right? Or grab Mrs. O'Leary?" Thalia demanded as she stood with Nico and Annabeth packing up their stuff, preparing to find Percy.

Nico nodded,"Mrs. O'Leary can definitely take us if I can find her." He mumbled the last part and Thalia's eyes widened in disbelief. Mrs. O'Leary had left Nico behind the day Percy was cast into tartarus, a loyal dog she was and she was smart too.

"How the Hades do you lose a hellhound!" She screamed in exasperation and Nico glowered at her.

"Don't use my dad's name as a cuss word-" Thalia roughly grabbed the collar of his shirt and put up a fist as she glared at him threateningly. Annabeth sighed before shoving her laptop in her bag, she decided not to intervene and let them duke it out.

"What the Hades, go to Hades, you deserve Hades. Oh Hades, guess you can't stop me can you? I'll say whatever the Hades I want to and you'll get the Hades over it. You sent Percy to Hades; the fact that you have the audacity to try and tell me what to do is hilarious. I was the one who stood by family when you betrayed our innocent cousin. Your no good dad helped my ex-father sentence Percy to tartarus and you stood by them the entire time. If you tell me what to do one more time I will kill you, because I don't take orders from traitors." She spat before shoving him away from her, thunder rumbled loudly overhead as Thalia whirled on the daughter of Athena.

"Saddle up the Pegasus's, I'm leading the search for Percy. I don't trust traitors, now hurry up, I'm getting my cousin back."

-Line Break-

"Hey Jason, sup Leo." Percy said happily as he and Piper sat at their lunch table, he hadn't felt so relaxed in such a long time.

Jason grinned,"Sup Perce, Pipes. Hear about coach Hedge? Got in trouble for beating a kid with a baseball bat, that guy named Dylan." Percy frowned; he had noticed strange things about the coach. The way he limped, how he would sometimes gnaw on his soup can, how he never ate meat. He was convinced that the Hedge was a saytr, like Grover. He hated thinking about the enemy but he couldn't help but notice the similarities between the two.

Leo nodded,"Says it was self-defense. Apparently Dylan was trying to kill him, the coach was acting like the guy was a monster or something."

Percy and Piper glanced at each other,"You don't say." She muttered, if there were monsters at the school he and Piper would have to leave. Of course Percy would take Jason, the more he had been around Leo the more convinced he was a son of Hephaestus. Leo loved tinkering with just about anything; he made a paper replica of a volcano in about five minutes. Four demigods and a saytr at one school had to be the worst luck Percy had ever encountered; he pushed the thoughts out of his head before taking a bite of his pizza. He glanced around warily, his eyes fell on Isabel and her group, there seemed to be more than four. It appeared that her followers had greatly increased and he frowned, in unison he saw them all stand to their feet and look over at his table. Their eyes flashed red briefly before they came strutting towards them, Percy's eyes widened and he gritted his teeth in panic.

He looked back at his friends; "We need to get out of here now." He hissed before standing up quickly and he began walking out of the cafeteria. He had stuffed his water bottle in his pocket and Piper swiftly followed him while Jason and Leo lagged behind in uncertainty.

"Hurry!" Percy yelled as they burst out of the double doors of the school, the sun beat down on them but Percy ignored the heat and took the back of the group.

"What's the situation?" Piper asked as she took the lead.

"Empousa, a whole pack of them." He growled before opening the bottle and solidifying two frozen knives, it was all he could make with that small amount of water. He tossed one to Piper before tossing the other one to Jason who nearly dropped it in shock.

"Whoa! You're like aqua-man!" Leo said in surprise and awe making Percy chuckle.

The son of Poseidon then turned serious,"Jason, this is going to sound crazy but at any second monsters are about to try and kill us. You have lightning powers and I need you to use them." Percy said in a rush before the empousa sauntered out of the building.

Percy sneered at them,"If it isn't Kelli, I can't believe I didn't recognize you until now." He hissed and she smirked as she got closer to Percy.

"Well well well, Percy Jackson. Man you filled out rather nicely, why, I wouldn't mind taking a bite out of you." She chuckled before fangs protruded from her mouth. She slowly walked around him in a circle as she eyed him with glee, Percy stood stiff as he watched her cautiously.

"Not to mention you took a short trip to hell, makes you even more attractive. You know that I love bad boys." She purred and Percy wrinkled his nose in disgust before slamming his fist into her face making her fly back and hit the ground.

Leo grinned,"Oh! Perce you're my hero! You have no idea how many times I've wanted to do that." He breathed. The pack of monsters shook in rage, their hair was on fire and their eyes were a bright red. Fangs came out of their mouths and one of their legs had turned prosthetic.

Jason looked mortified while Piper frowned,"I can't wait to kill you Isabel, Kelli, whoever you are." She snarled and Kelli hissed at her, Leo stepped up beside Percy with his fist in front of his face as he stood in a boxer pose. Suddenly one charged at Leo and he squeezed his eyes shut before he heard a scream. She was on the ground covered in fire, his hands had erupted into flames and he looked at his hands in disbelief.

"I knew I was hot but this is ridiculous!" He joked while trying to mask his disbelief.

Percy smirked,"Light em up Leo, Jason we could use some lightning. Rain would be good too." Percy demanded before stomping on the ground, the earth trembled before Percy flew into the air. He landed beside a random monster and swiftly snapped her neck, another turned on him and hissed before tackling him.

Piper hadn't exactly used a dagger but there was something she was good at,"Take this and stab yourself." She used a thick layer of charmspeak on an empousa, the monster grabbed the knife before stabbing herself in the chest. She dissolved into gold dust making Piper smirk before she was suddenly on the ground with a knife to her throat.

"Any last words?" Kelli sneered.

Piper glared at her,"Give me your knife, now." Kelli rolled her eyes showing her charmspeak had no affect on her.

"Fool, sure a few of my sisters are stupid enough to fall for that but not me. I have the gift too. Now I'll just kill-"

"FLAME ON!" Suddenly the empousa was engulfed in flames and Piper shut her eyes from the brightness of it all as she felt the heat of the flames, to her relief the idiot didn't burn her. She rolled to her feet and grinned at her friend.

Jason looked at his knife in uncertainty before charging into the chaos; he saw Percy fighting like a demon and stood by his side. He experimentally slashed the knife at a monster but she sidestepped before she tackled him to the ground, they rolled dangerously close to the cliff. He tried to get her off of him but she held on as she through punch after punch, his head was spinning and blood gushed out his nose. Thunder rumbled in the distance and rain began to fall, lightning struck the empousa making her scream and Jason was covered in gold dust.

He quickly got to his feet and looked out at the battle, Leo and Piper fought side by side. Piper was swinging her knife like a baseball bat but it was still effective. Leo was torching the monsters with ease but Jason could tell he growing tired. He glanced at Percy to see him in his own hurricane, his jaw dropped before he looked into the sky and held up a hand, it felt like he's done this before. Lightning flew to his hand before he thrust his hand in the direction of a dozen empousa who were charging at him. They were all fried to a crisp and turned to golden dust.

Percy threw up his hand in an attempt to block the knife that was thrown his way, it struck his wrist and he howled in pain before making his water solidify and turn into shards of ice. He ripped out the blade and with a flick of his good wrist the ice impaled the last of the monsters. Percy fell to his knees breathing heavily; he had just been stabbed in the wrist right where the K was. It was taking the water a long time to heal it. His wrist was in excruciating pain and he gripped it tightly before holding it up to the sky. Rain seemed to fall harder and he could feel his wounds start to heal.

Piper ran to his side,"Percy, are you alright?" She asked in concern, he didn't open his mouth in fear a scream would escape his lips. He nodded tersely as he let the water heal all of his stab wounds, his black hair clung to his face and he shakily stood to his feet before smiling weakly at Piper. The pain had died down and he trusted himself to speak.

Jason and Leo ran up to Percy and Piper,"What aren't you two telling us." Jason demanded, he felt like a freak.

Percy crossed his arms over his chest,"Jason, your daddy is Zeus. Leo your daddy is Hephaestus, happy now?" He asked in annoyance and Jason's eyes nearly flew out of his sockets. Percy turned to Piper to see a large scratch on the side of her cheek, he frowned and gently cupped her face in his hands before slowly touching the bleeding wound. She winced and his frowned deepened.

"They are so lucky their dead." He growled before water flew to his hand from the falling raindrops and solidified into ice. He put it up to her cheek and held it there momentarily, he marveled at her beauty and realized this probably wasn't the best time but he didn't care. Piper's kaleidoscope eyes turned a bright green, because they matched his. Her hair was ruffled adorably from the fight and a small smile graced her lips, when he touched her she was dry like he was. She took the ice pack he made her and held it to her cheek making his smile broaden, thanks Nemesis.

"Don't worry I'm here! Now where are the monsters!" A voice yelled and they all turned to the speaker in shock.

**This chapter is dedicated to my now dead 6th and 7th grade English teacher who lost the battle against breast cancer. She's only sleeping, dreaming about happy things and she's in a better place now. Mrs. B, I'm sorry you never had the chance to go to Hawaii with your family, I'm sorry you never got to celebrate Christmas one last time, I'm sorry I never got to say good bye or tell you how much you meant to me or how much you've changed my life. I'm so sorry, I should have been there. I hope you know I will always remember you, thank you so much for making me the writer I am today. Sweet dreams Mrs. B, Merry Christmas. **


	7. Chapter 7

**And if you fall I'll get you there**

"Faster, come on." Percy demanded as Jason practiced summoning his lightning faster. This was Thalia's little brother and Percy wasn't going to let the demigod be weak when it came to fighting monsters. He owed Thalia so much more than this but it's all he could do for his friend at the moment.

Coach Hedge glared at Leo,"You should be able to light this tree up like a christmas tree! If you can't concentrate better I'll beat you with my bat like I did with that wind spirit Valdez." The saytr roared; Leo nodded. Sweat beaded down his forehead as he shakily raised his hands, flames danced on his palms and he shot them at the tree.

"Come here." Piper commanded; charmspeak laced in her voice making the bird sitting by the pond fly towards her. It landed on her shoulder and cawed loudly, she grinned before petting it's soft feathers. The four demigods and the satyr stood by the pond that Percy and Piper visited nearly everyday, Leo practiced his flame powers on a large tree, Jason concentrated on summoning his lighting abilities, and Piper worked on charmspeaking. She wasn't going to let that empousa get the drop on her ever again, the more she worked on it the more powerful she was getting. Coach Hedge had missed the fight with the monsters but was able to help convince Leo and Jason that they were demigods. He showed them his hooves and Leo passed out, Jason looked moderately surprised but didn't seem as shocked as the unconscious Leo Valdez. Percy glanced over at Piper to see her smiling widely at the bird, a small smile played on his lips before he turned back to Jason who was sweating bullets. The blonde wiped the sweat off his brow before turning to Percy who looked at him expectantly, Jason flicked his wrist and his fingertips cackled with electricity.

Percy nodded,"Good job Jason," He paused and looked up at the sky to see the sun setting,"We better get going, I can't imagine this place being peaceful after dark." He muttered gravely as the sky turned a light pink.

-Line Break-

Welcome to Nevada.

Thalia squinted at the world bellow them as she clung to her Pegasus, she was still terrified of heights but she was being brave for Percy.

"So you know exactly where he is?" She questioned suspiciously as she eyed Annabeth with caution.

Annabeth snorted,"Of course, I did my research. He's currently hiding out with Tristan McLean, the actor."

Thalia didn't miss a beat,"How do know?"

"Iris." Annabeth snapped back angrily at Thalia's doubt. The goddess had known of Percy's escape and with the days of searching with Nico had found him located in Nevada with Tristan. Percy was good at staying hidden but Iris had found him with little difficulty.

Thalia rolled her eyes,"Just making sure you two wouldn't betray me, throw me in hell or anything. If he isn't here so help me I'll wring both of your skinny necks before frying you two alive. Then I'll feed you to the hunt's wolves, then I'll find you in Elysium, I'm sure you traitors will get to go because of your daddy and mommy. And when I find you down there I'll throw you both into tartarus." She snarled and lightning flashed in the distance, her blue eyes pulsed with power and her Pegasus whinnied nervously.

Nico looked at her sadly,"Thalia, he is. We want to find him just as badly as you do." She trembled in anger; he had to be kidding. He threw Percy away like a piece of trash, after everything Percy had done for Nico, for Annabeth they left him behind. Thalia assumed Nico was still a bit angry at the Bianca incident, the boy knew how to hold a grudge. With Annabeth it was pride. She wanted to make her mother proud so she condemned Percy to please the goddess.

"Don't lie to me corpse breath, Percy did so much for you and you sure as Hades gave him a great reward!" She yelled hysterically before turning on Annabeth who looked guilt ridden,"That's right Chase, I hope you can't sleep at night, he loved you." Thalia sneered before she laughed cruelly,"I can't wait for you two to see him again, so you can both live with what you actually did to him. You morons, his fatal flaw is loyalty. Idiots. Pride and grudges got you huh? Both of you are pathetic."

Annabeth glared murderously at Thalia,"Shut up! I already feel bad enough as it is-"

"You don't get it do you!" Thalia roared,"It will NEVER be enough! No matter what you do, no matter what you say nothing can undo what you've put upon yourselves. He needed you the most yet you just watched him burn in hell. Nothing can change that! Nothing can stop the pain of memory that you traitors inflicted on Percy!" She screamed, he was her best friend. They argued like a married couple, watched each other's back like brother and sister, and fought together like best friends should. She could never forgive all the betrayers of Percy Jackson because he had done nothing but help people and he didn't deserve the punishment he had gotten.

-Line Break-

Percy and Piper sat on the couch talking quietly as the rain pattered softly outside. She had her head in his lap and he was playing with her hair as they talked, they were speaking in hushed whispers because Tristan was home. He was in the kitchen talking on the phone but they wanted to take caution. Tristan didn't need to know he brought a rebellious, dangerous, monster attracting demigod into the house.

"So you will teach me how to use a knife right?" She asked curiously as she looked up at Percy with her bright green eyes, it was the color she preferred.

Percy smirked,"Oh yeah, you could use some help. You fight like a baseball player." He chuckled and she scowled at him.

"I killed them didn't I?" She asked somewhat crossly and Percy let out a laugh.

"Yeah...you still looked funny." He muttered the last part as he fought back a smile. She pursed her lips before rolling her eyes; it didn't stop her from smiling a bit. Seeing Percy happy was fantastic, he had always seemed forced when he smiled or laughed but now it seemed genuine.

"Well...you always look funny." She shot back.

He looked hurt,"Is it because of my scars?" Her eyes widened and she mentally face palmed, did she actually hurt his feelings?

"No! No you're gorgeous! I was kidding-" She said quickly only to be cut off the sound of his loud laughter, her head went up and down because he was shaking with laughter and her scowl returned.

He wiped a fake tear from his eye,"Wow. Cute, funny, and gullible! Pipes you're the total package!" He joked and she playfully slapped his chest in mock anger, he internally flinched at the small stinging sensation. He was taking Nemesis advice and biting back the pain he felt from the smallest gestures, she would help him with that.

"Jerk." She grumbled before crossing her arms over her chest, he smiled adoringly at her before kissing her nose. This made her eyes light up before she grabbed his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. He felt his heart speed up a bit once he saw her cheeks turn a light pink. There was a sudden knock on the door making the two jump.

"I'll get it, probably Jane." Tristan yelled before jogging to the door, Percy chuckled once he saw Piper grimace.

"Hey, have you seen a kid with black hair and green eyes? He's about seventeen, pretty tall?" A voice asked and Percy perked, he recognized that voice.

Piper sat up and frowned,"Percy, is it a monster?" She asked nervously but judging by Percy's look of glee it wasn't.

"She might as well be." He grinned widely before getting up and walking towards the door,"Thalia? Pine cone face is that you?" He called out, Tristan turned to Percy and raised an eyebrow before moving out of the way. The black haired teen was soaking wet and she walked into the house once she heard Percy's voice, her lips stretched into a wide grin.

"Kelp head." She breathed once she saw him; he raced towards her and wrapped her into a large hug. He made sure she remained wet so Tristan wouldn't freak out. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he cradled her to his chest.

"My saving Grace, gods I've missed you." Percy whispered, he didn't think he'd see Thalia for a while yet here she was. She hadn't changed much, she let her hair grow out and it went a little past her shoulders. She buried her face in his chest and he could feel his shirt get wet from tears, his own fell as well.

"Ah, Percy who is this?" Tristan asked awkwardly, he didn't want to interrupt their moment but he needed to know if this was acceptable. He couldn't have some crazy stranger in the house. Piper stood beside her father staring at the girl curiously.

Percy pulled away and wiped his tears off his cheeks,"This is my cousin, Thalia Grace." He introduced and Piper grinned, he used to talk about Thalia constantly saying that she was his savior. Defending him when no one else would, when no else dared.

Tristan nodded slowly,"Percy I will allow your cousin and friends to stay here for a little bit, but I'm not sure if I can watch so many children." Piper looked at him in disbelief before snorting in annoyance. He didn't watch them he watched his phone. Percy frowned, what friends?

Before any more words were spoken a voice whispered,"Percy?" He jumped in surprise and he turned to see Annabeth. The blonde couldn't get any air in her lungs as looked at Percy with wide eyes. He had gotten handsomer and some how more muscular, his eyes weren't as bright as they once were and they looked at her in indifference as if her presence didn't affect him at all. He had a scar that ran down his cheek and his ruffled hair seemed a little longer but other than that not much had changed. She felt unbelievable guilt arise in her, she sent him to tartarus for protecting her? She felt sick to her stomach and she swallowed nervously. She looked at the girl he stood beside; she had dark brown hair and looked Native American. She was beautiful with hazel colored eyes that had a light pink in them. Annabeth didn't miss the way the girl had snuck a glance at Percy, how her body language showed she was attracted to him. She was leaning towards him and standing too close for comfort, it made Annabeth frustrated. Had Percy moved on? It's only been a year surely he still loved her right? After all she did to him how could he? No, you put up with the people you love she thought optimistically though she could tell Percy didn't look happy to see her.

He sighed,"Nemesis you scared me, don't sneak up on me like that and...wait is this a dream?" He asked startled, she never visited him when he was awake. Her golden curls clung to her face and she looked as beautiful as ever. Her bright grey eyes studied him yet they seemed ridden with guilt and sadness. Nemesis? He just called her Nemesis, how did Annabeth resemble the goddess?

Tristan frowned,"Percy this isn't a dream, who's Nemesis? Is it this blonde girl?" He asked while eyeing the boy in concern. A dream? How absurd, does he see the girl in his dreams like some extremely corny movie? He thought of asking Percy about it but once he saw his look of panic and anger he decided to leave it alone.

Percy's eyes widened and his breath hitched. She was actually here. Her vivid eyes searched his and a sad smile graced her lips and he was frozen. He couldn't breathe, he wasn't in tartarus, he was in his own personal hell. He felt that dull ache return yet more painful and heart wrenching, he felt like he would puke and he had to turn away from her. She was here, standing right in front of him. The girl he was trying so hard to forget.

Thalia grimaced,"Perce I'm sorry, I had to bring them or else I'd never find you." Nico appeared behind Annabeth and Percy winced before stomping out of the room, he couldn't handle this right now. His anger was starting to control him and all he could see was red, he wanted to murder Nico, he didn't know how he felt about Annabeth. Love. Hate. He just didn't want her here because she would ruin everything. Piper watched him leave sadly before she glowered at the two.

A phone rang and Tristan pulled his out,"Sorry, have to take this. You kids have fun." He brushed them off before he walked to his room. He hadn't been paying attention, he was giving all his attention to his phone and for once Piper didn't care. Percy was hurting and she didn't have time to be bitter towards her father, she needed to be there for him.

"Wait this is Annabeth?" Piper asked before she put on a sickly sweet smile and approached the blonde. She's heard a lot about the daughter of Athena and knew nearly everything about her.

"I've heard so much about you! Nice to finally meet you." Piper cranked her arm back and punched the blonde square in the jaw, Annabeth's head snapped to the side and she stumbled back from the force of the blow. Piper's hand hurt like crazy but she refrained herself from showing any pain. Annabeth cupped her jaw and glared murderously at her, the blonde's grey eyes flashed with hatred as she looked into Piper's now black eyes.

"Who the Hades are you?" She snarled before she reached for her dagger, Thalia watched the girl with a surprised facial expression. Nico looked nervous, seems as though Percy made friends with yet another tough girl. Her beauty had deceived him into thinking she was quiet and timid.

Piper's eyes turned a bright green,"I'm his girlfriend." Well..they hadn't really discussed such a title but she assumed she was, the two of them were extremely close. Annabeth looked at her in disbelief, girlfriend? He had been in tartarus for a year and just escaped, now he was with a girl? He was supposed to love her not some other girl, he was probably with her to get over Annabeth.

Thalia smirked,"I'm starting to like this chick, what's your name? And are you-" She trailed off and Piper knew what she was insinuating.

"Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite." She nodded curtly before walking off to find Percy. Annabeth stared after her in disbelief; Percy had replaced her for a daughter of Aphrodite?

**"Jackson you're supposed to be over her, we've discussed this."**

Nemesis hissed inside his mind and he scowled, he was outside staring at the cloud-covered sky. It had a greyish tint to it and it seemed to reflect his several different emotions.

"Easy for you to say, you weren't actually in love with her." He grumbled back.

**"What has she done for you? Think Percy. Your petty emotions are clouding your judgment. Think of this logically, when you saw me you saw Annabeth. This means you want revenge. Piper, she really cares for you. Percy she just punched Annabeth because the blonde hurt you. Forget about her because Piper was there when she wasn't."**

Percy sighed because he knew she was right. He felt inexplicably angry and confused. Seeing Annabeth again was like another trip to tartarus, it was awful and his hands were even sweaty from discomfort. Piper had done a lot for him, so had Annabeth. But the daughter of Athena broke him. The daughter of Aphrodite was putting the pieces back together. Logically he knew Piper was the right choice, he knew she was the one who would help him get out of the deep dark place of fear and pain. But emotionally Percy was still holding onto Annabeth, emotionally he was torn between the two and he felt stupid. There was no comparison. Annabeth turned him into a fearful seventeen year old, Piper made him laugh and smile again. How could he have so much doubt when the choice was obvious? Piper McLean. The rain had no affect on him as it continued to pour; it only rejuvenated him. He realized that he had been so wrapped up in Annabeth and Piper that he had completely ignored his other betrayers. Poseidon, Grover, Clarisse, Nico, Michael Yew. So many others had turned their backs on him yet he was only concentrating on Annabeth Chase.

"You okay?" A voice whispered and he looked up to see Piper walking towards him. She sat next to him and grabbed his hand in hers making her wet self instantly dry.

"Yeah, just thinking." He muttered while looking down at their interlaced fingers. Would Annabeth ever care for him as much as Piper?

Piper looked at her feet nervously,"I-I understand if you don't wanna-" She stopped and gestured between the two of them. She wasn't sure if she should say date or something. She couldn't find a word to describe it.

He frowned,"Why wouldn't I?"

Piper looked up at him,"Percy you two have history, she broke your heart and you still have feelings for her. I don't know if we need time apart or if you still want Annabeth. I'm not here to be your back up because the girl you loved sent you to hell. You're either all in or not." She murmured, her voice was gentle yet stern. His eyes widened, he wasn't sure what he'd do without Piper. The girl who picked him up from the side of the road, helped him get back in the water, fought by his side even before she knew she was a demigod. Or Annabeth, the girl who took a knife for him, knew him since he was twelve, and kissed him on Mount St. Helens. The girl who betrayed him and tossed him in hell without a second thought.

Percy smiled before kissing her temple lovingly,"Lets go teach you how to use that knife." Piper blushed before a grin broke out across her face; she unsheathed her knife and followed him out to the open field behind their house. He's all in.

-Line Break-

Percy frowned; he was back in the arena. He stood over a person strapped to a rack, the man looked around wide-eyed and Percy realized he was holding a large knife.

"Hello again Percy, miss me?" Annabeth's voice taunted and Nemesis stepped towards him. She wore the same leather jacket and looked like Annabeth, a smirk adorned her face and he scowled at her.

"Sure, what is this?" He growled as he gestured to the man on the rack.

The goddess's smirk broadened,"This is the same man who nearly killed that entire family before you stopped him. I want you to kill him. Slowly." He looked at her in disbelief.

"You've got to be joking, I-" She punched him in the gut making him scream; she grabbed his scarred wrist and squeezed it as tightly as possible. There was a loud snap and Percy fell to his knees in agony and the knife clattered to the floor. His vision turned blurry and he gasped in pain.

"You will do what I say Perseus, you will torture him." She demanded as she grabbed his other arm and began squeezing it as her grey eyes bore into his green ones. He couldn't be like Kronos; he refused to act like him.

He didn't make a sound despite the excruciating pain he was in,"I said no." He whispered fiercely, defiance gleamed in his eyes and Nemesis snapped her fingers. His wounds were instantly healed and he was on his feet in a flash with knife in hand. He could murder the goddess at that very moment; she was trying to get him to torture when Kronos had already broken him? Suddenly it wasn't the criminal anymore, it was Grover. The half man half goat looked around frantically before his eyes nearly popped out of his head seeing Percy.

"Percy? What am I doing here? I...I'm supposed to be in Elysium-" He stopped once he saw Percy's look of rage, his green eyes turned a dark color. Rage, it began to overcome and he was blinded by fury. Grover got in Elysium? After all he had done, betrayed everyone and he got to be in paradise. Percy put an end to his terror and he got to be in hell. It wasn't fair. Insanity joined fury in Percy's twister of emotions that raged on inside of him, he brought the large knife down and stabbed Grover in the stomach. The satyr bleated in pain as Percy began hacking away. Grover didn't deserve happiness; he twisted the blade in his flesh making Grover start to cry in agony. Percy deserved happiness; he ripped the blade out. Percy deserved paradise; he slowly dragged the blade down Grover's chest. Percy deserved to be free not a century in hell, he slowly plunged the dagger in the traitor's shoulder making him scream.

_"Yes! Torture him Percy! Make him pay for what he's done to us!"_

The voice of insanity screamed delightedly, Percy was losing it but he didn't register the fact as took the butt of the blade and hammered it onto Grover's skin. The half goat pleaded to die, to be set free, for Percy to stop. But he didn't. Percy let rage and insanity take over, because Grover didn't deserve pleasures of Elysium, he did.

Nemesis watched her pupil with a large smirk on her face,"Looks like your luck ran out Grover."

-Line Break-

Percy awoke with a start; Piper was cuddled up on top of him and let out a soft gasp. He had tortured Grover, and it felt good. His eyes widened, it felt good. He delivered justice and the satyr had it coming to him, the thought scared him. Just how bad had Kronos messed him up when he was down stairs? He cleared his mind and began to toy with Piper's braid, funny how he refused to torture the criminal but when it came to Grover he dived in without a second thought. Man did it feel good, that wasn't even a dose of what Kronos gave him. He could imagine himself going full out on torturing Grover, encasing him in plastic and throwing him into the ocean. Letting him sit there until he was on the verge of death but not quite, a traitor like Grover didn't deserve to die so easily. He didn't realize he was smiling sadistically until Thalia walked in the room. She wore the same clothes as last night, her hunter parka and tennis shoes. Her hair was really frizzy showing she slept poorly.

The smile vanished instantly and turned into a genuine one,"Hey Thals." He whispered before looking down at the peaceful Piper again.

She yawned,"Sup Perce...actually I wanted to ask you something. What was tartarus like?" She asked meekly as she sat on the couch that faced him. Percy swallowed nervously before slowly shifting so he was sitting up. Piper's head was on the couch and she muttered something incoherent before falling back asleep. Thalia was truly curious about tartarus, that and she knew Nico and Annabeth were eavesdropping, she wanted them to fell awful about what they did to him.

Annabeth watched the scene with a lump on her throat; she adjusted her invisible cap before scooting in closer to the living room. She wanted to know what she had done to Percy.

Nico slinked in the shadows as he began to eavesdrop on the conversation, what had he really done to Percy?

Percy fiddled with his fingers nervously,"It may seem like I was only in there for a year here, but in there it was a century." He whispered hoarsely and Thalia looked at him in horror, a century? It had been worse than she thought, a century of being trapped with the titan king who hated him, who made make his life miserable.

He continued,"I-I'm afraid of water for gods sake. I'm getting better but Kronos would wrap me in plastic before throwing me in a lake. I couldn't breathe underwater there, I couldn't move. I got claustrophobic and I-I wanted so badly to just die. I mean, I was kind of dead but it hurt and I wanted the pain to stop. Was even suicidal for a bit, trying to kill myself though I knew it was hopeless, I gave up on hope a long time ago." He stammered as he looked down at his hands. Tears blurred his vision and he couldn't bring himself to look at his cousin.

Nico had to look away from Percy; he made his extremely powerful water loving cousin fear water. He was disgusted with himself; Kronos didn't change Percy he did. He damned his cousin, his family member who was protecting his friend. What had he done?

"Luckily I was usually just strapped to a rack and sliced and diced, everyday my wounds would close and I'd have scars all over me. Then he would wake me up just to punish me again, he would make me run through flaming cactuses and tell me everyday about how everyone hated me. That's why I was down here; I was used. And once everyone used me they threw me down here because they were tired of me and I wasn't useful anymore. He would boast about breaking the hero of Olympus. And he did. It was so dark down there; it was horrifying. He gave me a scar on my wrist that's a curse, every time I try to sleep I would see him torturing me." He whispered, Thalia got up from the couch and sat next to Percy. Tears streamed down her face and she wrapped her arms around Percy, she buried her face in the crook of his neck and began crying silently. Percy decided to leave out the information about Nemesis; no one needed to know about Percy's skirmish with Grover. If Grover had actually been there.

Annabeth was struck by overwhelming guilt and sadness; she couldn't believe it. A century, a phobia for water, jeers and taunts, torture. She was about to break down, what was worse was that she knew this wasn't the end of the story. This wasn't even half of what Percy endured, the way his shoulders sagged and how he carried himself when talking about this was heartbreaking. His eyes were dull and nearly lifeless, when he spoke of tartarus his lips quivered slightly and he looked disturbed and scared. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and she had to leave the room, because she couldn't handle the truth. She was responsible for this, for everything that happened to Percy.

"I'm sorry Percy, I should have tried harder I...I-" She blubbered before she began sobbing quietly again.

He clenched his jaw and wore a pained expression,"Don't worry Thals, I'm here. You did try, as hard as you could. It's okay; I'll always be here for you. Don't feel guilty for trying and not succeeding." He murmured as he held her to him closely and rubbed her back comfortingly, he refused to let his saving Grace feel bad for something she had no control over. She didn't deserve it.

**Finally, this is about 5k so I pat myself on the back for this. Phew, glad I got this in. **

**DaughterOfTartarus11: **Merry Christmas Mrs. B and Pluto's Daughter Thx for the update

**Thanks. And there it is, that beautiful number 11. Making me proud over here, way better than 14. Rock on DaughterOfTartarus11, rock on. **

**Urias Invictus: **Another good chapter. I always find your ideas very interesting. I swear you have a mind much older than your years. The plot you have created is phenomenal!

**Well I have been told I'm pretty mature for my age...by no one. Well thanks for basically calling me mature, I'll take it!**

**Anaklusmos14: **Great chapter as usual, now hurry up and write the next!

Seriously though, I'm sorry about your teacher. Hang in there short bus

**Aw toothless, is it that time of the month? Why so cranky? Wrote it so here! Thanks for your support though, means a lot even though I dislike your number. I'm hanging in there. **

**Now I'm gonna take two seconds to vent. I HATED THE MOVIE SEA OF MONSTERS! I literally had to walk out of the room, gosh it made me so mad and I felt like punching every stupid person in the world and ughhhhhhhh! They gave away that Silena was a traitor! Percy becomes the prophecy child at 20! Tyson is actually smart! Grrrrrrrrr, guys if I don't update for a while its probably because I broke into Holleywood and took over as director for Titan's Curse...that or I got arrested for trying. The actors are good and stuff but the plot is so off I teared up. And Logan Lermen (Or however you spell his name, I don't care) and the actor of Grover are hot! Gosh at least they did something I approve of in that movie. Anyway have a lovely break and all that, hopefully I'll be able to throw in more chaps and stuff.**

**Bye, Happy early New Years, 14 sucks and all that good stuff. **


End file.
